Agents

March 01, 2011

We want sports agent gossip

After all things Cam Newton, the biggest story from the 2011 NFL Combine was the arrest of agent Pat Dye, Jr.

The story started out on Pro Football Talk (PFT) with four unnamed sources for every unnamed agent who allegedly ran afoul with the law. (Seriously, I tried to count.)

Mike Florio provided the play-by-play for Combinegate:

We contacted the agent in question, who strongly denied the allegation. The league denied it, too. Later in the day, we received word from an eyewitness who saw the agent with what initially was described as a player’s credential. The second source later clarified that it was a sponsor’s credential, and the second source said that the agent was handcuffed temporarily. The agent once again strongly denied it. The league once again denied it, too. We then dispatched Rosenthal to sniff around Indy. He spoke with multiple security personnel at Lucas Oil Stadium, but no one admitted to knowing anything."

"No one admitted to knowing anything." In journalism, that small point usually stops an otherwise good story. But that's so 2008. Now, witnesses who lack credibility get elevated to unnamed source status. And the medium formerly known as gossip gets dressed up as hard news.

We like gossip. We want gossip.

Meatballs, one my favorite 80s comedies, reflects the marketplace's zest for gossip...


Sports by Brooks took it from here with this awesome headline:

Pat Dye Jr. Cuffed At Combine, Sexton Escapes

Who cares about Pat Dye's run-in with the po-po? I want to know about superagent Jimmy Sexton's harrowing, 007-ish escape. According to my imaginative sources, there are only three ways Sexton could have possibly escaped:

1) He avoided capture by scaling Lucas Oil Stadium rafters, then breaking a window, careening down the exterior, then blending in with the 2,242 other NFL agents walking Indy streets.

2) When questioned by Indianapolis police, Sexton pointed out that he was deputized by NCAA cops by virtue of serving on the NCAA's blue ribbon panel to “tackle the complex issue of improper agent activity in college sports.” The fine print: Participation includes immunity from agent laws.

3) Sexton ran from police while Dye played it safe, which is in his family's DNA.

Then Liz Mullen from Sports Business Journal went old-school journalism and got Pat Dye on the phone and on the record.

Talk about a let-the-air-out headline:

NFL Player Agent Pat Dye Jr. Questioned By Police In Indianapolis

According to Pat Dye:

"We were contacted by Under Armour that they would like to have (Dye's and Sexton's client Alabama WR) Julio Jones formally sign his seven-figure marketing deal that includes a national television commercial. I did nothing wrong or illegal."

Dye was "interviewed for about two-and-a-half hours before he was allowed to leave."

Taxpayer dollars at work, folks.

Meanwhile, Indianapolis has seen a recent uptick in violent crime. In response, Indianapolis police "added more officers downtown Saturday night...in the wake of a Saturday morning killing in the bar district."

That edict was two weeks ago, before Indy overfloweth with 8,000 NFL agents.

These are scary times for sports agents. In 2008, an agent who is no longer working as an agent was arrested for violating Alabama's agent laws. (Last month, an arrest warrant was issued when the former agent failed to show up in court at his plea hearing.) The case dates back to 2005 when the agent allegedly sent an employee to visit Alabama football star Tyrone Prothro, who (pick one) A) just ran for 400 yards against Auburn or B) was in the hospital for what turned to be a career-ending leg fracture.

Correct answer is B.

While every other agent did the math on 3% of nothing and, therefore, complied with Alabama state agent laws, one agent saw an opportunity to get a (gimpy) leg up on his competition. The agent was charged with a misdemeanor for "initiating contact with an athlete without being a registered sports agent in Alabama and a felony charge of failing to register as a sports agent."

Don Valeska, assistant Alabama attorney general prosecuting the case, laid down the law: “Nobody comes to the state of Alabama without following the law and talks to college athletes."

I have no doubt Alabama takes its agents laws very seriously. I wonder, do these laws encourage agents to comply or does it drive these activities further underground? Mr. Valeska hardly sounds like a fair-minded member of the jurisprudence; more like a man mission to protect his state's greatest natural resource: Amateur football players.

--Marc Isenberg

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Posted at 08:18 AM in Accusations, Agents, Humor, NFL | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

September 15, 2010

Big Pimping in College Football Circa 1959

Many have weighed in on Reggie Bush forfeiting his 2005 Heisman Trophy. While it never should have come to this, Bush can now put this matter behind him--and focus on all the great things he's doing, on and off the field.

Most former Heisman winners interviewed oppose going back in history to erase Bush's Heisman-winning season.

Eddie George, 1995 Heisman winner from Ohio State makes an interesting, but seemingly far-fetched point:

"My only concern now is what happens if they find out that in the 1950s a booster bought a player a cup of coffee?" They cheated back then too? But, let's not sweat the small, garden-variety NCAA rule bending. Let's find something that would be shake the college football world.

For those who like to idealize the days of 'ole, look away. This will not be pretty.

The year is 1959. Billy Cannon was a star running back at LSU. He won the Heisman trophy that year.

Cannon first pro contract? A three-year deal worth $50,000. Signed it November 1959. The GM of the NFL team was clever enough to post-date the contract January 1, 1960 in an attempt to skirt NCAA rules. Cannon led LSU to a Sugar Bowl victory against rival Ole Miss (LSU won 7-3 and Cannon scored the game's only TD on an 89-yard punt return. Imagine if Nick Saban was coaching back then. That would be some press conference when the news broke.

So who pimped Cannon's amateur status? Remember, agents weren't around in 1959. It was the Los Angeles Rams, which wanted to sign Cannon before the upstart American Football League upped the stakes. The mastermind behind this illicit agreement? None other than the mastermind behind modern professional sports, Pete Rozelle, who in 1959 was the Rams general manager.

The public would likely have never found out about this secret, post-dated contract had Cannon not signed a second pro deal. Immediately after the Sugar Bowl, Cannon signed a $100,000 contract to play for the AFL's Houston Oilers. The Oilers sued, claiming Rozelle manipulated Cannon. The Oilers prevailed in court and Cannon's contract with the Rams was voided.

According to Sports Illustrated, "A lawsuit ensued, which the Oilers won. The judge ruled that Rozelle had taken advantage of a 'provincial lad' untutored...in the ways of the business world." In other words, Rozelle "pimped" a college player.

Oh boy. NCAA, it's your turn. Actually, the NCAA cannot do anything: There's a four-year NCAA statute of limitations on investigations. The Heisman Trust, on the other hand, apparently has no such limitations. Cannon was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

Cheating is never right, but it's not like what Reggie Bush did at USC is anything new. There are powerful incentives in college sports to cheat. Always has been. We can (and should) step up our educational and enforcement efforts, but ultimately it comes down to integrity from all parties involved.

--Marc Isenberg

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Posted at 08:18 AM in Agents, Amateurism | | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

May 06, 2009

The Basketball Underground

A couple days ago, the Los Angeles Times did a lengthy investigative piece basketball prodigy Renardo Sidney. It was yet another story on the ills of big-time basketball. Yawn. I don't want to comment specifically on the allegations yet. I will say this: The Sidneys are a close, loving family. Are they perfect? Perhaps not, but it's not fair to judge them harshly without knowing all the facts. Let's also not forget, the Sidneys did not create the well-established underground marketplace for basketball players. Maybe this is solid, investigative reporting. On the other hand, how credible is a piece that incorrectly says that Renardo, Sr. is Renardo's stepson, when he is, in fact, Jr's biological father? The Times did correct the mistake after the fact.

As Shaq famously said, "Biological don't matter." However, it does feed into some unfortunate stereotypes about race and parenting. (Also, it is worth nothing that common sense could have answered the question: Ask yourself, how many stepsons are named after their stepfathers?)

Beyond insinuations that UCLA and USC backed off because they were uncomfortable with some things, people do have axes to grind in this business and butts to cover. I definitely would like to believe UCLA and everyone associated with this fine institution is above reproach, but I am also not delusional. (Disclaimer: My in laws graduated from UCLA and my wife graduated from UCLA law school.)
I don't blame the Times and Lance Pugmire for wanting to try to make sense of this upside-down, bizzaro world. But, he and a lot of others fail or do not want to recognize that the business of "amateur" basketball is by driven market demand, legitimate or otherwise.

Check out my latest Basketball Times article, which is on the basketball underground. In the article, I include one of my favorite all-time quotes on recruiting. Former UCLA assistant coach Jack Hirsch, whose family reportedly made a fortune in pornography. Comparing porn to college basketball, Hirsh told Sports Illustrated in 1984, “(The porno business) is infinitely cleaner than recruiting.”


Another must-read: Pat Forde's article about the "The Five People You Meet in Recruiting Hell." I greatly appreciate anytime a writer can work in the "biggest whore" Jerry Tarkanian ever met AND Bill Saum in the same article.

--Marc Isenberg

Posted at 12:31 PM in AAU, Agents, Amateurism | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 21, 2009

NCAA panel votes to screw athletes yet again

Last year, I wrote a Basketball Column opposing a proposal initiated by the Atlantic Coast Conference to drastically shorten the time period underclassmen basketball players would be given to test their NBA market value.

According to USA Today's Steve Wieberg, "An NCAA panel voted Monday to compress the time frame, giving non-seniors who enter the draft until May 8 to decide whether to keep their names in the pool or resume their college careers. That's more than a month earlier than the NBA's mid-June withdrawal deadline...The NCAA had given them until 30 days after the draft — until late July — to declare their intent to return to school." Of course, the NCAA membership spins this as a positive, suggesting this is in the student-athletes' best interest, allowing "underclassmen who pull out of the draft more time to refocus on academics and lessen the potential for outside individuals to have a negative influence."

I have no problem trying to rid the basketball world of outside negative influences, but first we need to agree on who exactly these negative influences are. Is it someone, maybe an agent, who offers information contrary to the college coach? It's easy to heap blame on agents when a kid turns pro, then falls in draft. But, that is an oversimplification of how these decisions get made. In fact, unless your Derrick Rose, Mike Beasley, K-Love or Blake Griffin, there is risk associated with either decision.


Continue reading "NCAA panel votes to screw athletes yet again" »

Posted at 09:26 AM in Agents, NBA Draft | | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

March 31, 2009

The Hoops Whisperer

Wall Street Journal recently stepped up its sports coverage, which is especially great since most newspapers are cutting back and more than a few are folding.

Today, WSJ has a great feature on Idan Ravin, a former attorney-turned-hoops-whisperer. His methods are unconventional:

Mr. Ravin's goal is to create so much chaos and stress on a player during workouts that the physical game becomes less cerebral and more automatic. He uses a combination of humbling psychological tactics and exhausting, unorthodox and sometimes spontaneous drills. He's been known to fire tennis balls at players while they're dribbling or make them stare straight ahead while dribbling two balls in each hand in uneven rhythms and walking from side to side.

The subject of basketball trainers is more interesting today with all the talk on agents, NCAA rules and college coaches. As financial incentives increase among all the participants (players, coaches, agents) coupled with a more intertwined market among high school, college and pro basketball, it is reasonable for top players to seek the best trainers, and vice versa. The market forces kick in and everyone does what is in their enlightened self-interest. Coaches desperately want top players. Players want to fulfill their hoop dreams. Agents want clients. How can everyone get what they want? Hopefully within the rules, but that is probably not a compelling enough force to stop this activity. There absolutely may be some sinister motives involved, but I hardly blame high school or college players for wanting to get the best training possible.

Yes, this may be an extra benefit in the NCAA's eyes, although it does appear that many college coaches are in on the joke. And as much we want to pile on UConn's Jim Calhoun, he is surely not the only coach to figure out how to play this game.
--Marc Isenberg

UPDATE: Mike DeCourcy, my college hoops Yoda, emails: "Foolish NCAA rules are at fault for the presence of the trainer in the picture. If college coaches could work with their players in the offseason, especially the summer, trainers would serve no purpose. I understand that might be coming soon, but it'll be several years too late."

Posted at 08:57 AM in Agents, Training | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 27, 2009

Calhoun says what?

I am big on "innocent until proven guilty," but UConn basketball coach Jim Calhoun did not help himself in the court of public opinion at Wednesday's press conference. Listen to what he said, with phenomenal commentary by radio Bomani Jones. Coach Calhoun makes millions to coach basketball, not to communicate with the media. But he certainly has taken an odd approach lately at press conferences. To Calhoun's discredit, he now has the dubious distinction of the two worst press conference performances by any coach this year...heck, this millennium.

Last month, Calhoun showed a total lack of grace under fire when he was asked about his huge salary amid a state budget crisis. (He also demonstrated he has no clue about finance when he tried to pass revenue off as income.)
I said this in my earlier post on the subject, but it bears repeating: Yes, these are very serious allegations against the UConn basketball program, but whatever NCAA violations may have occurred is, in my opinion, secondary. I am most pissed at the fact that Calhoun and staff stayed in such close contact with Nochimson after he friggin stole from Rip Hamilton, one of UConn's all-time great players. Completely reprehensible. Seriously, Nochimson was not suited to be an NBA agent, a group that collectively does not have the most stellar reputation, but UConn saw fit to use him to help recruit a star player. What does that say about the world of college recruiting?

Ian O'Connor wrote an excellent article on Calhoun's latest press conference. Definitely worth reading the entire article, but this passage cuts to the heart of this serious matter:

"So the dynamic of your garden-variety Division I scandal has been flipped upside down. The old passion play of agent corrupting athlete, with poor ol’ coach in the role of naive victim, no longer carries the day in the theater of major college sports. Now the average coach isn’t so gullible or innocent. He’s become a business partner of the agent, an enabler chasing his own pot of gold."

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis broke the story that the NCAA is looking into the allegations. He writes:

"A member of the NCAA's agents and amateurism staff contacted an official at the University of Connecticut on Wednesday morning to request that the university investigate allegations...an NCAA source told SI.com on Wednesday night. The source, who requested anonymity because the NCAA cannot officially comment about ongoing investigations..."

Let's get this straight: The NCAA wants an investigation launched into whether the UConn basketball broke NCAA rules. How do we know this? Because an NCAA employee didn't follow NCAA rules. In the grand scheme, this is hardly news since it is obvious that the NCAA would investigate such a serious allegation. Still, the NCAA should be concerned that an NCAA staff member did not follow protocol when it comes to protecting the integrity of a serious investigation. BTW--Seth Davis did not exactly make this anonymous source a big mystery since there are only three or four people who work in the NCAA's agent, gambling and amateur (AGA) department. Wonder if the NCAA would ever investigate its investigators?

Related: Education Is Still The Answer/SportsAgentBlog.com

Posted at 12:21 AM in Agents, Jim Calhoun | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 25, 2009

UConn-ed

Another day, another Yahoo! Sports Another day, another Yahoo! Sports . Journalists Dan Wetzel, a friend, and Adrian Wojnarowski are among the best in the business of following and documenting many of the alleged transgressions that take place in college and pro basketball.

As I did with Reggie Bush and and OJ Mayo, I think it's important to defend the players, who really have no idea about the backroom dealing that often takes place among AAU coaches, family members, agents, runners and college coaches.

The NCAA, college programs and coaches can shift the blame to the agents, but ultimately it takes two take to tango. What's so damning in this investigation is the volume of calls between an agent and the UConn coaching staff. Not just any agent. But a decertified agent who stands accused of stealing $1 million from a former UConn great and current NBA star Richard "Rip" Hamilton.

According to Yahoo!, there were "1,565 phone and text communications" with Josh Nochimson, a former UConn basketball manager turned agent who once repped Hamilton and Luol Deng. 16 of those calls were from Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun. Think Kelvin Sampson is shaking his head? Sampson made a few extra calls to recruits and one infamous three-way call, while UConn recruiters made 1,500-plus calls to an alleged thief who stole from one of UConn's own. 16 of those calls were from Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun.

The problem of funneling players among summer program, college basketball and then back to the agents is nothing new. It is heightened with the NBA age restriction and the embracing of one-(or even two)-and-done. This is what happens when the NCAA and its members attempt to maintain an outdated facade of amateurism, while EVERYTHING about basketball AT ALL LEVELS has been commercialized...whether we want to admit it or not.

There's no explicit fiduciary duty for college coaches to protect their players from unsavory characters, but I would like to believe that college coaches are the players' "in loco parentis." After all, that's what coach recruiters promise to mothers and fathers every day. Nochimson was a former UCONN student basketball manager, so there's added intrigue: His role appears to be essentially babysitting on behalf of UCONN and making sure Miles was delivered to his alma mater. In return, Nochimson would be well positioned when Miles went pro.

UConn athletic department and its basketball coaches should bear some responsibility to protect current players from a guy who stole big money from a former UConn star. Nice notion, of course, but the insatiable appetite coaches have for the NEXT star is often too great to resist. According to the Yahoo report:

“[Nochimson] admitted to stealing,” Hamilton said. “He cried … I always remember my agent saying, ‘Rip, don’t put your hands on him because he’ll be able to sue you. [Nochimson] was doing everything off of me. He looks like a high roller. It’s hard for a kid because you may not have anything and you see this guy.”

Did the experience of Rip Hamilton cause UConn hoops to end its association with Nochimson? Not in this upside down world. Here's the conclusion to the Yahoo! story:

Hamilton’s discovery didn’t stop UConn’s contact with Nochimson. The phone calls and text messages went on well past Miles’ expulsion. Even now, Moore is unwilling to disavow his old student-manager saying that they still haven’t discussed the charges that he stole from Hamilton. “I consider him a friend and a very loyal, trusting person,” Moore said.

Using this standard to judge people, who does Moore consider disloyal and distrusting?

As an aside, my high school plays a periphery role. From the Yahoo! story: "Nate Pomeday remembered Nochimson arriving unannounced with Miles at his gymnasium in Lake Forest, Ill. Nochimson had discussed using Pomeday’s school at the time, Lake Forest Academy, as a place to enroll other basketball players. Pomeday said he never worked out Miles." Nice that an agent wants to turn LFA into a basketball factory.

--Marc Isenberg


Posted at 10:00 AM in AAU, Agents, Amateurism | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

March 12, 2009

The biggest whore Jerry Tarkanian ever met

Sheep

[Cartoon by Sebastian Conley, exclusively for Money Players. All rights reserved.]

Another day, another allegation that sports agents, AAU coaches and the devil are all the same. Pat Barrett, a longtime coach on the summer basketball circuit, is, again, involved. Shocking. that Barrett accepted a $250,000 donation from Ceruzzi Sports in return for access to his best NBA prospect, Kevin Love.

The NCAA is apparently concerned about the role AAU coaches play in the recruiting and agent game:

“College coaches were now standing side by side with agents at AAU tournaments and high school games. ‘In the parking lots and at the concessions stands and in the hotel rooms’ is where the NCAA’s Newman Baker said agents linger.”

Agents, AAU coaches and college coaches standing side by side. One big happy, dysfunctional basketball cesspool. The NCAA rulebook prohibits agents from doing anything like paying money to players or to their surrogates. But, amazingly, it allows colleges coaches to pay for direct access to top players. Thankfully, it prohibits college coaches from raising money on behalf of AAU programs, although that did not stop one former coach from requesting IN WRITING that his boosters donate to a program to help with his program's recruitment. Remember, AAU coaches have value to not just sports agents, but also to college coaches who also covet their top players. AAU programs are funding their tax-exempt programs with donations from agents, financial advisers and, I'm guessing, wealthy boosters. "Sleazy" agents donate all this money for a lousy 4% of the bump on an NBA rookie contract plus 20% of endorsement deals, which in this economy is 20% of nada. If you do a back-of-the-napkin calculation, it is easy to see that a great player is far more valuable to a college coach than any sleazy or even reputable agent. Just ask noted sports economist Andrew Zimbalist, who wrote in The Wall Street Journal about the flawed salary structure for college coaches:

[College coaches] are making almost as much as NBA coaches, even though their teams' revenues generally are below one-tenth those in [the NBA]. The trick, of course, is that the players aren't allowed to be paid, so the coaches, in essence, get the value produced by their recruits. It doesn't hurt that college sports benefit from state subsidies and federal tax exemptions, and that they have no stockholders looking for quarterly profits.

Unfortunately, my friend Jason Williams, who worked for Ceruzzi Sports and former NBPA director Charles Grantham, was allegedly the point person recruiting Kevin. In the Yahoo! article, Kevin cuts right to the (motorcycle) chase: “If I was going with an agent, why would I ever go with a guy who, no offense, but he crashed a motorcycle into a tree? I’m not going to go with a guy that’s reckless.” Pat Barrett thrives in his world not just because some agents help fund his program, but also because college coaches kiss up to him. And provide free tickets. And give him access. And, wink, wink, encourage wealthy boosters to also contribute. My early analysis: Kevin and his family were used. Big time. Pat Barrett is a con artist, not on the scale of Bernie Madoff, but a bad dude, nonetheless. He conned Ceruzzi Sports by making them believe he “controlled” Kevin Love and that he could steer Love to chose Ceruzzi as his agents. And Barrett defrauded the Loves by going behind their back and capitalizing on an asset he did not own. My favorite judge of basketball character (or lack of) is Jerry Tarkanian. When he was coach at UNLV, Tark described Pat Barrett as "the biggest whore I ever met." I am sure Tark encountered lots of whores along the way, so this is quite a statement. (BTW—I am convinced Jerry Tarkanian is one of the most honest college basketball coaches of all time…honest about the dishonesty associated with basketball.) So much for Tark's spot-on character assassination. Twenty years later, a job recommendation by Pat Barrett is still apparently golden:

"If you are going to be the coach at USC, you better have a relationship with the coach of the Southern California All-Stars, Pat Barrett, who recommended [Rudy Hackett]. I hired him and I'm very glad we did.

Only in America. Only in the bizarro world of basketball, where the wolves don’t even have to bother to dress as sheep. --Marc Isenberg

Posted at 01:02 AM in AAU, Accusations, Agents, Kevin Love | | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

October 05, 2008

Bankruptcy Tonic

A-Game Publishing is pleased to announce that is now in its second printing. Boring advice like spend less, save more, invest conservatively not your style? Try Bankruptcy Tonic!!

Bankruptcy-revised

Posted at 10:15 PM in Agents, Finances, Money, Pro sports, Tonic | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

August 28, 2008

Money Players Links

Money Players is all about being the best resource for the business of being a professional athlete. Here are some links from around the web that we think are must reads for any current or aspiring professional athlete and their families.

  • Sports agent C. Lamont Smith talks to Sports Agent Blog’s Darren Heitner about his new venture, jocklife.com. According to Smith, “Jocklife.com is for athletes of all levels: high school, college, and professional. The whole gist of the Jocklife platform is to bring some balance and fairness to the coverage of athletes…give athletes the opportunity to define themselves. Today, athletes are really defined by the coverage they get and the stories written about them. Very few times do they have the opportunity to define themselves in an extended fashion.”
  • Slam Magazine’s Lang Whitaker interviews NBA agents Lon Babby and Jim Tanner. Tanner and Babby are known in NBA circles for their fee structure (hourly rather than percentage based) that saves their clients a lot of money.  They also are known as the agents that negotiated Josh Childress’ ground breaking deal with Greek professional team Olimpiacos.
  • A nice piece by SI’s Kevin Armstrong on top high school basketball player Jordan Hamilton and his tight knit family. Hamilton’s mother mentions his intentions to sign a National Letter of Intent in the near future. Hopefully, she understands both the positives and the negatives of such a move.
  • According to reports, Stephon Marbury has just spent $45 million to purchase a new private jet. Stephon has made a lot of money throughout his career (approximately $150 million), but this could turn out to be a purchase Steph will regret. Stephon probably has plans to lease the plane out when he is not utilizing it, but Scottie Pippen tried to do the same thing, and that didn’t end well for him. Stephon might want to put down the Bankruptcy Tonic and pick up a copy of .

  • The Wall Street Journal with a report on how budget cuts in college athletic departments could hurt the U.S. in future Olympics.

  • Another article on Baylor hiring the former AAU coach of top recruit John Wall. We first told you about this story in a previous set of Money Players Links.

-Nate Jones

For more in-depth information on the business of being a professional athlete, purchase , written by our own Marc Isenberg.

Posted at 09:36 PM in AAU, Agents, Finances, Links, Money, NBA, NCAA sports, Recruiting, Tonic | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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