SAN FRANCISCO 鈥 A fellow college basketball coach had Utah鈥檚 Larry Krystkowiak laughing last summer, but only for a moment.
And definitely not now.
鈥淚 thought it was a joke, and I realized as I walked away it wasn鈥檛 a joke 鈥 (he said) 鈥業f you鈥檙e not cheating, you鈥檙e cheating yourself,鈥欌 Krystkowiak said. 鈥淚 remember going 鈥榟a ha.鈥
鈥淎nd then I went, 鈥楢ctually, that鈥檚 probably true.鈥欌
Certainly, the FBI and the NCAA are not laughing.
The FBI鈥檚 widespread investigation into college basketball led to the arrest of Arizona assistant basketball coach Book Richardson and nine other college basketball figures on Sept. 26, with a federal complaint detailing allegations of bribery and fraud.
The resulting cloud of suspicion will hang over the Wildcats and many of their peers all season. The NCAA and Pac-12 have moved quickly to assemble committees to consider reforms.
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They鈥檒l have a lot to study.
At Thursday鈥檚 Pac-12 media day, Krystkowiak and Colorado coach Tad Boyle both said issues can arise from travel-ball coaches, shoe reps, agents, handlers and the players themselves.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all over the map,鈥 Krystkowiak said. 鈥淵ou get some of these phone calls, random phone calls that, 鈥楬ey, it鈥檚 going to take this much.鈥 Sometimes it comes (as a question asking), 鈥榠s there anything else you guys can do to sweeten the pot?鈥 kind of deal.鈥
Boyle says he works to identify decision-makers around a recruiting target 鈥 whether it be handlers, workout coaches, travel coaches or parents 鈥 and then assess whether playing under the rules will work with them.
鈥淚f the answer鈥檚 no, you better cut bait and go on,鈥 Boyle said. 鈥淥therwise, you鈥檙e wasting a lot of time, energy and money chasing the wrong guys.鈥
UA coach Sean Miller has repeatedly said he supports investigations into the allegations, which include alleged bribes to Richardson and alleged payments to a current player.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott announced a 10- to 12-person 鈥渢ask force鈥 that aims to supplement the NCAA鈥檚 own commission into potential change.
鈥淲e鈥檙e highly concerned by the issues that have been exposed,鈥 Scott said at the Pac-12 media day Thursday. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be part of developing specific and concrete reform measures nationally and within our own conference.鈥
They should start with these five areas:
1. The one-and-done rule. Scott and Pac-12 coaches are pretty much unanimous on this one: Forcing elite-level players into a year of college basketball doesn鈥檛 really help anyone involved.
Or, in some cases, forcing them into a half-year of class. Players need only pass fall semester classes and become eligible in the spring before bailing for pro ball, barely becoming a 鈥渟tudent-athlete鈥 at all if they choose.
鈥淚f there are young men that don鈥檛 have an interest in going to college but feel they have to go to college to do a year before they can go to the NBA, that鈥檚 not in the interest of college sports and it鈥檚 certainly not in the interest of that young man,鈥 Scott said.
But that鈥檚 legal under NCAA rules, at least.
What鈥檚 not is when agents or shoe reps or handlers become improperly involved with a player that soon could be making seven-figure money in the NBA.
鈥淭he way they鈥檙e being looked at on the black market is they鈥檙e $100 million assets,鈥 Boyle said. 鈥淣ot all of them, but that鈥檚 what some of them are going to earn over the course of their career. When you have those kind of assets, people are going to want to attach themselves to those assets, and that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening.鈥
The problem is that the NCAA has no control over the one-and-done rule. It鈥檚 set by collective bargaining agreements between the NBA and its players association. Even as NBA commissioner Adam Silver has publicly supported the idea of raising the age, the players association has wanted to lower it.
While college basketball has long been compared to the NCAA baseball model, which requires baseball players to stay for three years in college if they don鈥檛 sign professionally out of college, Scott said the best solution for basketball is to let players go straight to the NBA or G League out of high school if they wish.
Currently, players must be 19 and a year removed from their high school graduating year to be eligible for the NBA Draft. They can play in the G League at age 18, though its low profile and low salaries aren鈥檛 attractive to elite prospects. Some recruits, like UA commit Terrance Ferguson, have signed with overseas pro teams. Ferguson spent last season with an Australian pro club.
Meanwhile, the NCAA is relatively powerless here. All it can do is talk about it, lobby and try to get others to act.
鈥淚 hope it鈥檚 a tipping point,鈥 Scott said.
鈥淎 lot of the people in the NBA care about the sport and care about the health of college basketball. I don鈥檛 think anyone associated with the NBA or NBA Players Association is going to see what鈥檚 coming out from the FBI investigation and think it鈥檚 good for the sport of basketball.鈥
2. Shoe companies. By arresting two Adidas reps and reportedly issuing a subpoena to Nike for records involving its summer-league operations, the FBI made it clear it is taking a hard look at shoe company involvement in college basketball.
It鈥檚 easy to see why a shoe company might want to get involved: Having good players on teams they sponsor means their products are likely to be featured more often in high-profile events, and some of those players may later sign on to wear their products as professionals.
But Cal coach Wyking Jones, a former grassroots director at Nike, said 鈥渢hat wasn鈥檛 the agenda when I was at Nike.鈥
Jones says it鈥檚 possible that individuals within the companies may have been a problem, but not the companies themselves.
While Washington State coach Ernie Kent says it鈥檚 an advantage coaching a team that wears Nikes, he said that factors such as coaching, opportunities and style of play ultimately are 鈥渕ore important鈥 in a recruit鈥檚 decision.
Washington coach Mike Hopkins spoke of Nike鈥檚 vested interest in his teams at Syracuse, where he was a longtime assistant under Jim Boeheim, but said the shoe giant never helped Syracuse land a player there. Syracuse was cited in 2015 for multiple NCAA violations, but Nike was not implicated.
鈥淭his is just ballpark, but if I鈥檓 shoe company X and I鈥檓 invested in you, I want you to be good,鈥 Hopkins said. 鈥淏ut, you know, some get really involved. I was at Syracuse for 21 years. I鈥檝e known the people at Nike. They鈥檝e never helped us get a player, ever. Up front and honest, and they鈥檙e great people. They want to better the game.鈥
3. Agent relationships. The two-part FBI investigation detailed alleged schemes that funneled money from shoe companies to players and from agents to players, with Richardson allegedly operating as an intermediary in the agent-to-player scheme.
Richardson was alleged to have taken $20,000 of an sports agent鈥檚 money, with most of it headed to UA recruit Jahvon Quinerly. In return, Richardson promised to direct current UA players to professional representation.
College basketball players can associate with agents and even befriend them, but cannot pick one or take payment from them.
The NCAA could, among other things, allow limited representation for basketball as it does in baseball. In that sport, players can have 鈥渁dvisors鈥 negotiate their pro contracts without losing college eligibility if the negotiations don鈥檛 work out or if the player decides to return to school.
Boyle said the baseball model might be worth looking into, though there鈥檚 no easy solution.
鈥淚f there is a crux of the issue, I think that鈥檚 it: How we deal with that issue, the agent,鈥 Boyle said. 鈥淚 think the shoe companies can be worked with. 鈥 It鈥檚 that agent-player or family relationship that I think needs to be really looked at, because I think that鈥檚 where a lot of these issues arise.鈥
4. Reform club ball. In recent decades, major travel clubs 鈥 sometimes referred to as 鈥淎AU鈥 teams 鈥 have become more influential with elite players than high school teams. Players are spending more time with their travel clubs and playing in higher-level leagues with them.
Miller doesn鈥檛 have a problem with that, even though his own father was a highly regarded high school coach in the Pittsburgh area.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important not to judge or stereotype people,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淪ome of the grassroots coaches have done more for kids who have had nothing than anyone in their community could have ever imagined. In some cases, they鈥檝e helped hundreds of kids. They鈥檝e helped them come from really tough backgrounds and gave them an opportunity to get a free education and a scholarship.鈥
Besides, Boyle said, restructuring summer ball scene still wouldn鈥檛 address the root of the problem.
鈥淣o, because the black market鈥檚 the same,鈥 Boyle said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 still going to be there. It鈥檚 not going away. It鈥檚 how best we deal with it.鈥
5. Redefine amateurism. In 2011, the NCAA began a 14-year media rights deal worth $10.8 billion. High-major coaches typically earn seven-figure salaries. Miller, for example, is scheduled to make $2.6 million plus bonuses this season.
Shoe companies offer millions to schools in gear-and-cash packages, with the UA taking in an average of $3.8 million per year from Nike.
Players get room, board, tuition and now an expanded stipend to meet their full 鈥渃ost of attendance鈥 鈥 that is, all expenses from the moment they leave their family home 鈥 but no salary.
That economic imbalance has been a frequent target of NCAA critics, including ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. Two days after the FBI investigation became public, Bilas posted an opinion on entitled “Why the college basketball scandal won’t get fixed until the NCAA pays its athletes.”
In it, Bilas argues that lower-division NCAA sports don鈥檛 have similar issues because salaries, revenues and expenditures are in line with their missions.
He also argued that the free market works well for coaches and others around the game 鈥 those who can be paid above board 鈥 so it could also work well for athletes.
鈥淎fter all, these schools know exactly whom to recruit and whom to play the most minutes in the games,鈥 Bilas wrote. 鈥淭hey know whom to pay and how much.鈥
Still, the NCAA and Scott have been sticking with the current amateurism model.
鈥淚 understand that point of view and know there are different philosophies about it,鈥 Scott said. 鈥淢y reaction is there will unfortunately be incentives for people who cheat, whether it鈥檚 around recruiting or other things. I think just because there are bad actors, and just because there will always be incentives for people to cheat doesn鈥檛 mean you want to liberalize it and say it鈥檚 OK.鈥
While Boyle says redefining amateurism would eliminate that black market for players, he said it would bring up a number of other issues. Among the concerns discussed: Players would now be employees, and money would possibly be taken from non-revenue sports.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a non-starter鈥 with the NCAA, Boyle said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think anybody鈥檚 going to go away from the amateurism model. I would like to say maybe we have a happy medium there with the cost of attendance. That鈥檚 been good for the student-athletes. That鈥檚 been good for everybody. That鈥檚 added a lot of cost to the system as well.鈥
At the same time, Boyle says he doesn鈥檛 pretend to have all the answers.
Maybe the NCAA or Pac-12 committees will find some.
Or maybe not.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a process that鈥檚 not going to happen as quickly as we want to,鈥 Boyle said. 鈥淭here are a lot more questions now than answers.鈥
