re: Bama Basketball Offseason Megathread

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New @SInow Daily Cover: As NCAA justice has lagged in the wake of the federal corruption scandal in college basketball, some of the implicated programs are raking in recruits -- especially in the SEC. Their competitors are out of patience.

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Despite ongoing major infractions cases, three of those SEC schools have scored major recruiting coups this month: Auburn got a commitment from national top-five prospect Jabari Smith; LSU received a commitment from top-50 prospect Alex Fudge; and Alabama beat out Auburn and others for top-15 prospect J.D. Davison, one of several recent power moves by the Crimson Tide. Compliant schools are still losing out on the recruiting trail to schools that have not yet paid a price for alleged violations.

“I know what’s going on,” said South Carolina coach Frank Martin. “I know who’s doing what. If I was a prosecutor, I’d go after people. But I’m not. I’m a coach. So I stay away from certain situations when I know what’s going on. I’m not going to recruit against them.

“But if nothing is done, the message is that cheating is O.K. You can do what you want and nothing happens. There’s cheaters in every profession, but they’ve got to be dealt with. This [FBI investigation] was like an IRS audit. Our business was audited, and when something is audited, you find the problems and fix the problems. Our business has yet to fix the problems. It’s time to fish or cut bait.”

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(The LSU infractions case has expanded to include football allegations, which the school is not disputing. An LSU booster pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges and was sentenced to 33 months in prison for stealing more than half a million dollars from a hospital foundation. The booster funneled $180,000 of that to the father of an LSU player for a no-show job. Over the school’s objections, those violations have been bundled with the basketball case.)

Despite the baggage, Pearl has landed the highest-rated recruit of any SEC coach this fall, and Wade currently has the highest-rated SEC class for 2021. Those developments have spiked the temperature of some of their competitors.

“Auburn’s got to go down at some point,” said one SEC coach.

"I get sick to my stomach every time we play LSU," said an SEC administrator. "It's revolting when I see Will Wade walk into our gym."

The infractions cases involving Alabama and South Carolina are less complex and do not implicate anyone currently employed at either school, but they’re also without closure at this juncture. Alabama has been working with the NCAA regarding its case, which stems from former associate athletic director Kobie Baker’s involvement with helping Dawkins try to form a relationship with Alabama recruit Collin Sexton. South Carolina has received its Notice of Allegations and is charged with a Level I violation (the most severe) for former assistant coach Lamont Evans’s accepting bribes for arranging meetings between Dawkins and former Gamecock P.J. Dozier or his family. Evans was the involved party in Oklahoma State’s violation as well, and the expectation is that South Carolina also will be in line for a one-year postseason ban.

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But as of now, there are no sanctions at South Carolina or Auburn, and no Notice of Allegations at Alabama or LSU. Against this backdrop, insiders say a conference rife with compliance issues is recruiting basketball players with impunity right now. While the feds might have scared some schools straight for a while, it hasn’t been a lasting change.

“Things may be worse now than they were before the FBI stuff,” said one industry insider with deep ties in both the recruiting and coaching realms. “It's like they receded after it initially hit, then nothing happened and now they're pushing the boundaries even further. The league is only getting worse.

“The SEC is a s--- fest right now, so coaches can’t be too hypocritical because everyone else is doing it, too. It’s pretty bad throughout.”

Multiple sources said league members have communicated their frustrations to commissioner Greg Sankey, who also wants the ongoing infractions cases in the league to be resolved. Sankey would not comment on individual cases when SI asked him about them in August, but he did emphasize that, in general, the process needs to move more quickly. “I think the commissioner is beyond the end of his rope,” said one league source. “He’s beside himself.”

Speaking generally and not just about the SEC, Duncan acknowledged that his investigators are still tracking plenty of potential infractions cases. “Sadly, violations continue,” he told SI. “I don’t know if it’s an uptick or a downturn, but I’m disappointed that we continue to receive actionable information from the membership.”

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‘Read it this morning. He’s not wrong,’ one SEC head coach told me.

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Same SEC coach: ‘I tell you all the time on these deals. It’s real. Sounds unfathomable but it’s real and it’s hard to catch because it’s cash. Booster cash. Cash accumulated over time. Etc.’

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NEWS: #LSU is self imposing penalties for FB violations connected to booster payments, including reduction in 8 scholarships, sources tell @SINow.

School banning Odell Beckham Jr. from its facilities for 2 yrs for handing out cash.

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