Yahoo Claims Miami’s NCAA Issues Persisted Under Al Golden
It was about one year ago that Yahoo’s Charles Robinson reported that the Miami Hurricanes provided illegal benefits to more than 70 players. The report was significant enough to get everyone’s attention, from Miami to the NCAA. Miami’s Al Golden promised that he would clean up the mess caused by the former regime and booster Nevin Shapiro; however, a new Yahoo report by Robinson suggests that Miami continued to violate NCAA rules under Al Golden. This is very troubling news for “the U.”
The new report concerns an allegation that the Hurricanes used “Sean ‘Pee Wee’ Allen – a then-equipment manager and onetime right-hand man of convicted Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro – to circumvent NCAA rules in the recruiting of multiple Miami-area players.” The troubling aspect is that Al Golden’s staff also used Allen to make impermissible contacts. If so, the Miami scandal overlaps the hiring of Golden.
The Yahoo article includes a pointed response by Golden:
“I have been a college football coach for more than 18 years and I am proud of — and I stand by — my record of compliance over that span,” Golden said in a statement. “As my colleagues and players on all of my teams can attest, I believe strongly in doing things the right way with the best of intentions.
“The inferences and suggestions in the Yahoo! Sports story that my conduct was anything but ethical are simply false. I, like all of us at UM, have cooperated fully with the joint NCAA-UM inquiry and will continue to do so, so that our program and our university can move forward. Because the process is on-going, I am unable to address any specifics or answer questions on the matter.”
Despite Golden’s denial, the report does seem to have some pretty clear evidence that Allen was used improperly.
The saving grace for Golden may be that these violations happened so early in his tenure–perhaps before he even knew Allen’s role with the team. Nevertheless, Allen was dispatched by current Miami coaches other than Golden, who certainly would have known. All in all, it looks like Miami’s troubles are getting worse, not better.
The Atlantic Coast Conference needs Miami to return to its glory days. And looming NCAA sanctions are only going to delay that. Hopefully, these reported violation are either untrue or were quickly remedied by Golden’s staff to help mitigate the sanctions.
The Confidential 