Adrian Wojnarowski and Dan Wetzel from Yahoo! Sports published the results of a six-month investigation into the men’s basketball program at the University of Connecticut. Among the discoveries, the writers found possible improper contact between Josh Nochimson, a former agent who was also a student-manager (i.e. representative of athletic interests) at UConn, and a recruit and excessive phone calls to former player Nate Miles. Phone records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request show that 1,565 text messages and phone calls were exchanged between the UConn coaching staff and Miles and his inner circle. UConn officials and head coach Jim Calhoun declined to comment on the report.
The phone records seem to be a slam dunk case, but the more difficult violation to prove will be the improper contact with the agent. Since the NCAA is not a governmental entity, it has no subpoena power and therefore cannot compel witnesses to testify in court or at a deposition. So, any proof of the agent charges will have to come voluntarily.
I guess it’s easy to see why some people are comparing this to Capone’s prosecution for tax evasion. Are they hoping that forcing UConn to answer for the phone accusation will lead them into accidentally coughing up something that will help prove the illegal contact charge?
One aspect that’s interesting to me, as a pretty staunch NCAA-cynic, is whether they’ll see it as worthwhile to push all that hard to investigate a team that supposedly brings it a lot of money by giving the tournament a team of interest in the NYC area.
I’m also curious if there’s any connection with your previous post, about how tightly the NCAA can regulate an individual’s contact with agents anyway. Of course this is about a program’s contact, not an individual’s, but I suppose there might be some connection between the two issues not immediately obvious.
I’m sure they’re hoping for it, but the phone calls themselves could be enough for a major violation, depending on how pervasive the violations were. This is a very straight-forward rule and one that coaches deal with pretty much every day. Also, the extra benefits provided (lodging, transportation, payment for surgery) could be enough to slap them with a lack of institutional control, which is a death knell.
Moreover, the fact that Nochimson was so tied to the UConn program should make it an easier case. It would be harder for UConn to deny any knowledge or that they had no way of knowing about improper contact.
FWIW, there have been 18 cases of major infractions involving this rule since 1994 – see https://goomer.ncaa.org/wdbctx/LSDBi/LSDBi.MajorInfPackage.SearchAndDisplayList?p_School1=&p_School_Num1=&p_School2=&p_School_Num2=&p_Case_Division=0&p_Date_Radio=1&p_Month1=JAN&p_Day1=1&p_Year1=1953&p_Month2=MAR&p_Day2=30&p_Year2=2009&p_Sport1=Any&p_SportAndOr_1=0&p_Sport2=Any&p_SportAndOr_2=0&p_Sport3=Any&p_TV_Penalty=10&p_Postseason_Penalty=10&p_Probation_Penalty=10&p_Division=1&p_Bylaw=0&p_bylaw_radio1=1&p_Article=13.1.3.1&p_Contains_Clause1=1&p_SearchWords1=&p_Inword1=heading&p_Boolean1=and&p_Contains_Clause2=1&p_SearchWords2=&p_Inword2=heading&p_Boolean2=and&p_Contains_Clause3=1&p_SearchWords3=&p_Inword3=heading&p_Button=Go+Search.