Hurricane Warning: Miami Basketball Outlook
As most everyone is aware at this point, Yahoo! Sports has broken the news of a $930 million Ponzi scheme masterminded by Nevin Shapiro, a former sports agent, and provided impermissible benefits to mostly football players; however, Miami's basketball program is guilty as well, starting at the top of the chain. Former head basketball coach Frank Haith, now at Missouri, knew about it all, according to Shapiro and could be on his way out of his new job before even coaching a single game. Also under investigation is part-time starter DeQuan Jones, one of the top 25 or 30 best recruits in his class at the time of his high school graduation, but has never lived up to expectations. Shaprio claims he paid Jones $10,000 to commit to the Hurricanes in hopes of restoring the basketball program.
In the press conference announcing the hiring of Coach Haith to replace former Missouri coach Mike Anderson, the AD used words such as "integrity" and "high-character" in describing Haith. He certainly could not use his 43-69 overall ACC record to justify the hiring, but instead he focused on Haith's attributes and what he will do to teach and develop the young men on the Tigers' basketball team. Looking quite foolish after Haith knew of the pay-for-play scheme, Missouri may just very well be on the prowl for a new head coach.
Some thought that former George Mason coach Jim Larranaga inherited a very good situation when he left the Patriots for Miami, Florida. He had four returning starters from a 21-win team a year ago including standouts Durand Scott and Reggie Johnson, but also a key reserve in DeQuan Jones. As we stated earlier, Jones has never quite lived up to his high expectations, but this could have been the year as he was slated in as the starting forward in the pre-season. Larranaga may no longer have to worry about Jones' potential because you can bet that Miami's compliance department will get to the bottom of things before they suffer any more NCAA sanctions.
By President - Corey Ruff - 8-18-11
