This whole thing reeks of Hurley's involvement, or at the very least, influence. When Hurley bolted for ASU a local reporter claimed that "sources" (ie Bobby Hurley) told him that Hurley felt insulted by the AD's offer to make him the highest paid coach in the MAC by offering him $1K more than Saul Phillips. Claims Hurley took it as a sign that the AD only wanted to the bare minimum to make him happy and didn't really support him. Never mind the fact it was a raise from $250 to $551K. There were other petty accusations but the whole thing reeked of an arrogant and petulant Hurley throwing his former employer under the bus in a lame attempt to look like he's not really just an opportunist that's desperate to take the first train out of Dodge.

Now you've got Evans pulling the same stunt. He runs into the AD Monday morning and asks for a meeting and the AD says yeah, we'll schedule some time to sit down. Then almost immediately Evans goes on twitter and complains about the AD refusing to meet with him to discuss his future and how he doesn't feel appreciated. Same playbook. Then when the AD meets with him a few hours later he says he'll only consider coming back to UB if the AD proves he cares about him by releasing him and not restricting his ability to follow Hurley. The AD complies, but he also makes a statement that if Hurley was involved in this before the release then that would be an NCAA violation. He would not comment on whether or not tampering had occurred.

Update: within hours of being granted a release Evans has offers from Arizona State, Miami(FL) and Boston College.

http://zagsblog.com/articles/buffalo-transfer-shannon-eva.../

$600?

Better start working on my second-grade son's cross-over dribble and 3-point shot. Already far behind.

So ...what was the relationship to the kid and what was the child's financial situation? Interesting.

Where do you draw the line between sponsoring a kid who has little means to play and calling it an under the table transaction?

I guess it goes to intent vs compassion for those less fortunate. The shoes were the hinky part to me. Were those the shoes the team wore or was that part of the incentive? Fees, tourney entries, Uni are all part of the cost of the team that it takes for many teams to exist.

Question is who plays at this level and will it be limited to only the kids with parents who can afford it? I know in our situation we played Boy's Club in 4th and 5th grade and did not play travel ball till 6th as I thought it was silly to put that pressure on a kid for the benefit derived. Better comp at the Y, park and Boys club than the predominantly homogenous travel leagues that existed in the affluent Indy burbs. It is interesting and provides a conundrum in America that reaches down into Pop Warner football, Little league Baseball, travel hoops and calls into question out obsession with youth sports. Crazy.

Van is correct. This is a coach who wants to turn a travel league gig into his own AAU gig. He seems like a super nice guy, and his kid is a great kid, and so is the star recruit, but it just shows the way things are done and how much money is being thrown around for youth sports...much less college sports. I'm just wondering if all this time spent in gyms as 8 year olds is really good for the young kids. I mean, if you ask this kid's dad, who is about 5-6, if his phenom plays any other sports, he looks at you as if you are freaking nuts, as in, "Can't you see how awesome my Steph Curry protege is, how could I ever let him throw a baseball?" And I've seen parents refuse to produce "lost" birth certificates required for club level soccer and will have their "all star" play only rec, and these are nine-year-old girls. Nine. Year. Old. Girls.

That is a topic that comes up constantly and one I continue to struggle with. When most of us were kids there were seasons where you played sports and that was that. You played baseball in the Spring, football in the Fall and basketball in the Winter. Now, if you are good enough (or more increasingly even if you're not) you play a sport year round.

There are a couple of big worries that I see in this development. One is physical. This is becoming a big topic in baseball because pitchers are pitching year round and they are throwing breaking balls at an earlier age. When I was growing up my Dad wouldn't let my brother or I throw a curve until we were 13. I see 8 year olds throwing them now. But it's not just baseball that's a worry. Are kids that play basketball year round going to have bum knees when they get to be 18? What are the long term effects? The other concern is that is there going to come a day when the kid that has been playing year round wakes up and never wants to touch a baseball or basketball again? My youngest plays basketball and swims year round. It leaves very little room for much else. He did play baseball for five years but just gave it up because he was missing too much practice and game time. He played soccer up through 2nd grade but gave that up for the same reason. He also wants to try flag football because many of his friends play it but squeezing it in is tough.

But he lives and breathes basketball and would be really, really, really unhappy if we told him he could only play during the winter. It doesn't matter what season it is, he crawls out of bed and picks up a basketball and dribbles it around the house (yes we allow it and even have a 6 foot hoop in the family room). And to be honest when I was a kid if I could have played baseball year round I would have been overjoyed. Just not sure what the right answer is.

Ha

reminds me of 7th grade nationals in Memphis where all 4 Indiana teams knew of OJ Mayo and D1 Greyhounds being older and saying something. We were told at the managers meeting that "unless you were in the delivery room and could prove he was not of age" you would forfeit your bond and probably not win an appeal. OJ went on with kids winning 'ships and getting recruited though he was older than Oden and teamies a year ahead of us. Got the notariety he wanted (I think playing vs younger kids and Ohio div 3 ball hurts his developement in the long run) and when the one and done rule was in his wheelhouse he came out in SLAM magazine along with teamie Bill Walker said they would be old enough to challenge the rule and maybe not have to do a year of college. I started doing the math and sent a letter to AAU National to show how many years they had shut folks down and documented the birthdates that they had denied for year.

Mike, I agree.... it is rampant in the younger grades and what I alluded to up top as to the differentiation between helping disadvantaged youth and building your own resume. Seen and heard story after story for a couple decades now. The money in hoops has every mom saying "mahhh baby gonna be the next miiichaael jawwdun" and dads showing out for anyone who will listen or worse coaching to try and put their boy in a great position....not for the love of the game and to pass knowledge on to the next gen. It is truly sad....and a growth industry unfortunately ...totally different in the US than youth/club sports overseas.

Interesting. I used to watch OJ Mayo play youth football when he was 9 or 10 years old. It really did feel like you were watching a man among boys. He was 6 inches taller than everyone else on the field, and was running QB sneaks for 65 yard TDs.

The league had a (supposedly) super strict birth certificate policy (you had to show the official government issued birth certificate before you were eligible to play), so it never even crossed my mind that maybe he really was older than all the other kids. Your story makes me think otherwise now.

I totally agree and have been insistent, at least here in INdiana, that is the case. Coach Gary Betts and Greg Cloyd were the 2 summer ball coaches that Tommy played for.....both remain very good friends and neither ever accepted a dime from outside sources or let their kids get compromised. College coaches hold both those guys in high regard and respect. Betts had Zach Randolph, Jason Gardner, Justin Cage, jeff and marquis teague and made sure all of them stayed on the straight and narrow.

You are so very right. The seamy side gets talked about while for each one hundreds of guys and gals do it the right way.

When I was in college I wrestled D1.
When the season ended we were told,except for an occasional clinic,to stay off the mat until the next season.

The coaches told un that they didn't want us getting burned out in the off season.

We were told to lift and run and encouraged to participate in a spring sport,either track or lacrosse.

I notice that a lot of "average" high school kids, who do one sport year round, including summers,are done by the end of high school and don't even try to continue in college.

Shannon Evans is transferring to ...you guessed it, Arizona State! Not only that, 2016 Buffalo commitment, Maurice O'Fields, is also reconsidering his options with a strong interest in ...you guessed it, Arizona State!

Bobby Hurley apparently decided that his first job as Arizona State head coach would be to recruit all of his former players from Buffalo. He's dead to us now and I personally hope he gets hit with an NCAA investigation.

You're practically a Bobcat now, clodney.

Look, I know this just completed season was godawful at Ohio, but this scenario at Buffalo further illustrates the advantages of Saul's way of building a long term program. I'd bet my house that when he leaves this kind of thing won't be happening.

I'd rather be patient and wait for the fruits of doing it the right way, than "enjoy" a short term, opportunistic fix.

Buffalo and BGSU finding this out the hard way. Even if Jans had stayed past this season, he wouldn't have been there long.

IMO, Saul's approach to program building is superior for the long term health of a mid major program than the get rich quick approach.

+1