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$$$
it sure does seem like Baylor basketball got real good real fast in both the men and the women's side.
this might explain some things.
$$$
looks like you called it
If not for in Jamele Horne taking a in free pizza, this would almost guarantee UA Lebryan Nash, but they don't have any scholarships to give out.
It's damn near impossible for a school with little tradition, a recent history of crime and tragedy and a Bible-belt morality to get this good this fast without it.looks like you called it
I have no direct proof, but I have sources, and my sources say $$$
Nash is a cog in this, though. Miller never gave the OK on Nash's recruitment, and I've heard it's because of $$$ ...
atleast he spelled colombia right
I wonder how long it will take for penalties to hit Baylor if the NCAA decides to crack down on them. They've got some pretty good incoming recruits I wouldn't mind seeing switch over to A&M (Jones, Isaiah Austin, etc.).
's starting to stink...
The Cliftons: NCAA Hates Them, Baylor Loves Them
Thursday, October 21, 2010
In the last 24 hours, there have been two hot topics in college basketball - the news that the NCAA may eliminate the July recruiting period, and the announcement by big-time high school recruits Deuce Bello and Quincy Miller that they will play for Baylor.
Both of those hot topics revolve around Brian and Dwon Clifton.
So who are the Cliftons?
Brian coaches a prominent AAU team called D-One Sports. Dwon is his brother.
It all started in 2008 when Dwon was hired by Baylor as the team's director of player development, a position that was basically created by Baylor in order to give him a job with its basketball program.
The reason for that hiring? Scott Drew wanted to land No. 1 recruit John Wall.
Of course, it didn't work, as Wall decided he'd rather play for Kentucky. Meanwhile, Drew was stuck with Dwon, who stuck around until Wall left Kentucky for the NBA.
Then, Dwon decided to quit his job with Baylor to work for Wall in the NBA.
Isn't that ironic?
Brian was a certified sports agent. That already has been verified.
Brian claimed he would never profit a penny from Wall. Maybe he didn't, technically. But his brother is now working for Wall and profiting himself.
And it's not like brothers could share money or anything, right?
So there's no way an AAU coach, a college basketball program and money could all be intertwined, right?
Even though Brian coached Wall, Dwon was hired by Baylor at the same time Wall was being heavily recruited, Dwon left Baylor at the same time Wall left for the NBA, and Dwon now works for and profits from Wall, who played AAU basketball for Dwon's brother, there's no way all those things are related in any way, right?
Wait, how about this one? On NBA Draft night, Wall was at his agent Dan Fegan's house. Sitting there with them were Brian and Dwon Clifton.
How can an AAU coach be affiliated with a sports agent?
And nobody knows what Dwon's job le is. We just know that he works for Wall - more like he works for Fegan.
And if Dwon works for Fegan, that would be pretty far-fetched to suggest Brian works for Fegan as well, right?
Come on, get real. This is so obvious.
There is a reason why the NCAA hates AAU basketball and is actively working on eliminating it from recruiting. And there is a reason why Miller and Bello decided to choose Baylor today. It's the same reason all around: the Cliftons.
It all started in 2001, when John Calipari recruited DaJuan Wagner to Memphis and then hired his father Milt as the Director of Basketball Operations.
Wait a second. How that can be legal?
Well, it happened plenty of times since then. Kansas State assistant coach Dalonte Hill was Michael Beasley's AAU coach. Kansas State hired Hill as an assistant coach and then successfully recruited Beasley.
Before then, not many top recruits were choosing Manhattan, Kansas as a popular destination. But it's obvious why Beasley chose KSU, and that's because of Hill.
But the way it went down with the Cliftons raised way too many red flags with the NCAA. They had to do something about it.
The NCAA is unhappy with the way AAU basketball is conducted. Coaches love it because it gives them the opportunity to often see hundreds of games in a weekend in one venue. But it's too fishy for the NCAA's liking.
With so many scandals involving agents and money going down these days in college sports, the NCAA isn't happy about it. They want to eliminate agents and money from being involved in their organization. That may sound impossible to do, and it is.
But they had to something drastic. It just so happens that this is what they came up with.
How else are they going to eliminate an AAU coach from being hired by a school to recruit a player and then leaving the school to work for that player in the NBA?
The only way even remotely possible is to take AAU out of the equation. And this is the first and most drastic step in taking AAU out of the equation when it comes to recruiting. Will coaches still find a way to get information and keep AAU plenty relevant? Sure, but this is a huge step away from AAU basketball.
It's just so ironic that the same day this news came out, Bello and Miller decided to pick Baylor of all schools.
It's ironic because that same guy - Brian Clifton of D-One Sports - is Bello and Miller's AAU coach.
And that same school that Dwon was hired by two years ago to lure in another top recruit who played for D-One Sports - Baylor - is getting Bello and Miller.
So does that mean the Cliftons still have a strong connection with Drew and Baylor, even though Dwon is now working for Wall in the NBA?
It seems that way. And there is nothing the NCAA can really do to stop them, unless the NCAA decides to investigate and find out the obvious truth behind all of this.
Who wants to bet that when Bello and Miller reach the NBA they will hire Dwon and Fegan to represent them? It's inevitable.
Why would Baylor all of a sudden become a hotbed for elite recruits?
Why is the NCAA all of a sudden trying to eliminate AAU basketball?
It's because of the Cliftons, and they need to be stopped before college basketball is even more corrupt than it already is.
http://thehoopsreport.com/article.aspx?id=582
I think it's funny that the bump in this thread went from an investigation over a text message to JMJs "sources" and wild speculation about how Baylor got so good. I'll tell you how Baylor got so good...
They recruited who they could, exceeded expections, enjoyed some success and were able to build off of it for future recruitment. Players like Curtis Jerrells, Henry Dugat, Mamadou Diene...these guys weren't highly sought after top-level recruits. But, they were able to establish themsleves in the early years of the new regime and that helped Baylor re-establish itself. The first "big" recruit they got was Tweety Carter, who was an All-American SG but was also only 5'10.
Outside of Perry Jones, whom they recruited early on and who grew into his game, the Bears have enjoyed success with players that have not been in the top-tier.
As long as they don't accuse a dead kid of selling drugs to cover up their payments to him the current program is raising the bar.
Agreed...current Baylor program = RTB
And that article about the Cliftons is weak...Baylor saw a legal way to gain an edge on the compe ion for the #1 recruit in the country and program-changing player and they took it. The fact that it didn't work just shows you that the Bears weren't ready to bring in that level of a player. Maybe now with Perry Jones, they have arrived there.
Who wouldn't want to go to Waco to play for scandal ridden Baylor?
basketball mecca of the world.
Do you think that shedding the situation in a negative light makes your position anymore concrete or valid?
Who wouldn't want to go to Waco to play for scandal ridden Baylor?
basketball mecca of the world.
I could do exactly the opposite...
Who wouldn't want to be a key piece to rebuilding a program from the ground up and being celebrated as one of the ones responsible when it is successful?
Truth is...everyone that was at the school left, it took a couple years to bring in anyone of real notoriety and the coaching staff lucked out with a couple recruits that overperformed against their perceived status in school (e.g. Jerrells and Udoh). So there were plenty that looked at the school just as you did and decided to pass.
The only thing that takes what's being investigated (improper contact via text) and turns it into what was being suggested (paying players to come to Baylor) is cynicism....and that's weak.
will come raining down on Baylor soon enough, maybe not just yet, but it will. Drew's established bad recruiting practices and a bad reputation with a lot of people, they are going to be keeping a close watch on that program now.
I don't need to justify my sources to you. They've been dead on lately regarding recruiting for Arizona, who just so happened to share a recent recruit with Baylor in LeBryan Nash.
You can talk to almost any UA fan on this site. I've got connections and typically call things a day or two before the news breaks publicly via private message or profile message. But hey, discount me because you don't know me.
And I didn't bump this thread. Others did. I just jumped in with what I know. 's starting to snowball.
Are you familiar with just how difficult it is to pull in multiple 4-star/5-star classes in college basketball unless you're, 1. an all-timer type of program like Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas, etc... or 2. a cheating program?
Since Drew arrived, they've pulled in five recruiting classes with multiple 4-star recruits, with several including multiple top-75 types. All told, they've brought in 13 4-star top-100 recruits, including 10 top-75 and 6 top-50. Then this year's class and next year's class adds Perry Jones and Quincy Miller, two 5-star talents, and Baylor was firmly in on Nash, another 5-star.
You've hardly overachieved with a haul like that. Baylor's had some good success recently, but they've had a history of issues and are now linked to multiple more. It's not only the 5-star players with their hands out.
yes, why would anyone want to play for Duke, Kentucky, Florida or 90 miles south at UT when they can play at scandal ridden Baylor and be part of a rebuilding process?
I'm not slanting things to where it's just me putting the situation in a negative light. It is what it is.
Baylor got caught badly cheating and had SMU wondering how the they didn't get the death penalty........yet here they are just a few years later playing in the Elite 8.
I don't have any proof of yet that they been cheating to get these current recruits, but imo, that program smells like crap from 200 miles away.
Agreed, while everybody "cheats" to some extent - Drew is doing too much too quick. Evidently, he's too young to have learned anything from Steve Fisher.
And he's made too many enemies to fly under the radar. I know that Baylor fan has convinced himself that Drew is disliked because the old guard doesn't want a new player on the block, but we are seeing a similar situation at KSU and opposing coaches are practically falling over their own feet complimenting Martin.
Drew is disliked because he's a .
We'll see...
Thanks.
I guess we'll see about the credibility of your sources if something does come out about Baylor paying players, because that's what you suggested. Their history of issues were tied to a different AD and a different coaching staff, and they aren't being accused of "multiple more", just sending a text to a recruit using some bullish tactics.
Either way, I'll issue an apology to every doubter in this thread if there is really an investigation and that investigation turns out to be money gifted to players.
Every top 100 player (and many who are not) receives some kind of benefits for choosing a school - that's just how the slimy game is played.
So, if you get investigated, they'll find SOMETHING. The goal is to avoid being investigated in the first place. Hence the problem with Drew doing too much too quick, all while making enemies. He's drawing A LOT of attention to himself.
When a bunch of high profile players commit to a non-traditional power, to play for a coach who has no track record for producing a wide range of NBA talent (as of yet), plays primarily a zone (not what NBA scouts like to see), and displays questionable Xs and Os skill...well, it raises some eyebrows.
As is, from a compe ive standpoint, I'm not terribly worried about Baylor's recruiting as long as Drew is the one coaching them.
Take off the green and yellow filter and you'll smell it too.
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