Nerlens Noel Cleared by NCAA to practice and play
Per the NY Times, the NCAA has begun to nose around into star Kentucky recruit Nerlens Noel and his recruitment. The inquiry involves some financial issues, some academics, and a possible link (through an "advisor") to an agent. It's all pretty vague, everybody's cooperating and downplaying at this point, it's not even a formal investigation yet, the kid deserves the benefit of the doubt at the outset, etc., but still . . .
Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/sp...r=2&ref=sports
edit: title of the thread should've said "Inquiry" instead of "Investigation" -- don't think I can change it now.
Nerlens Noel Under Investigation . . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/sp...a-inquiry.html
Man, I hope Calipari gets nailed for this one . . . doesn't sound like he had much to do with it as of now, but come on . . . it's more than just a trend at this point. UK fans are already in full panic mode, and I can't help but grin.
EDIT: whoops . . . didn't see the other thread, feel free to toss this one.
Noel recruitment investigation update, 8/22/12
Update on Noel's recruitment -
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...caa/index.html
"The presence of two NCAA enforcement officials and Bell [UK chief compliance officer] gives the appearance that this case has gone beyond the routine checking of top prospects, according to one former NCAA investigator....A veteran compliance official with no direct connection to Noel's case called the presence of Kentucky's Bell in the meeting with the NCAA: 'unusual but not incredibly unusual.'"
And: "The NCAA didn't focus on Noel's academics in the meeting and asked mostly about the people involved with Noel's recruitment."
Nerlens Noel Investigation Re-Opened
Si.com has a story up that the NCAA has been back up to New England earlier in August, this time to his prep school in Tilton, NH to re-open the investigation of Nerlens Noel's eligibility. This time they're focussing not on academics but rather on benefits he may have received -- how he paid for visits, that kind of thing. Kentucky sent its Chief Compliance Officer to be involved in the meetings, which has been described by some as unusual.
Shabazz under investigation too
Not sure if this belongs in its own thread, or maybe we could update the title of this one, but Shabazz Muhammad is also under investigation for receiving improper benefits and has been ruled ineligible for the team's trip to China. Is it possible that we dodged some major bullets by avoiding Purvis and Noel and being turned down by Shabazz?
(It should be mentioned that Purvis's situation is very different from the other two and involves his high school's certification, not anything that he himself has done).