Shadiest Program in NCAA Basketball “Standing Out” in Kerwin Walton Sweepstakes

“The schools that stand out right now are Arizona, North Carolina, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and Creighton, “ Kerwin Walton Sr. said. “With Arizona there is a level of comfort because of how they have recruited Kerwin and when you see how they recruited and told Zeke how he would play and that all came to fruition. Now, Kerwin plays a different position but that certainly bodes well for Arizona.

Arizona was at the very front for awhile but now competition has certainly emerged from North Carolina and Creighton then you have some other schools like Georgetown and Vanderbilt that are in the mix.”

Kerwin Walton Sr. Via 247Sports.com (Michael Luke)

These comments were made by Kerwin Walton Sr., on Friday, in an interview with 247Sports.com. He is the father of Kerwin Walton, who is graduating from Hopkins High School, and happens to be one of the best basketball players in the country (see below). The quotes are absolutely mind-blowing, if you are paying any attention to what is happening behind the scenes of NCAA Basketball right now.

In fact, if you have an HBO subscription tomorrow night, you’ll be able to see just how incredibly oblivious Kerwin Walton’s dad is. A bomb could be dropped on Sean Miller (Arizona Head Coach) and all of college basketball…

Ok, ok, I have plenty more on “The Scheme” shortly. Much more… For those of you who aren’t familiar with Kerwin Walton, let me give you a quick refresher course:

As stated earlier, Walton was a senior guard at Hopkins High School here in the Twin Cities, this last season (before we entered this alternate reality), and he’s really really really good. He’s blossomed into a stud… and holy F (censored for the kids)… can he shoot the fucking basketball.

He visited for about ten different free games at The Barn and had a lot of Minnesotans excited about the possibility of staying home… but if you are still holding your breath for that, hopefully you’re closing your eyes while reading this.

Alright, now that the noobs (did I do that right?) are caught up on Kerwin Walton, let’s get back to his dad’s comments that opened this blog. Walton Sr. made these comments on 3/27 (Friday).

“With Arizona there is a level of comfort because of how they have recruited Kerwin and when you see how they recruited and told Zeke how he would play and that all came to fruition.”

That quote from Walton’s dad will haunt my dreams at night. Anybody who goes to Arizona, the only level of comfort they are looking for, is comfort that pads their pocket book. The craziest part… it’s not even a question anymore. Quotes from this HBO documentary have already leaked. All you a have to do is “Google it”.

This doc centers around a man named Christian Dawkins, who was a “runner” for some NBA Agent. There are never-before-heard Federal wire taps that are in this documentary and a story out of ESPN, written on March 17, has the transcript of one between Dawkins and former Arizona assistant, Emanuel “Book” Richardson.

In one of the calls, former Arizona assistant Emanuel “Book” Richardson and Dawkins discuss trying to recruit former Wildcats center Deandre Ayton as a client for Dawkins’ management company. Portions of the call were played to the jury during Dawkins’ second criminal trial, in which he was accused of bribing Richardson and two other coaches.

“Book was loyal to Sean,” Dawkins said in the film. “Arizona was definitely more open to getting some s— done.”

“But see, your boy [Miller] promised that he was gonna let [us] work on that deal,” Dawkins told Richardson during the call. “So we’ll see how Sean plays it out. You know what I’m saying? We’ll see if he’s a man of his word. ‘Cause he brought it up to me.”

“Yeah, ’cause he need help,” Richardson responded. “You know what he doing per month? I told you. Ten.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying,” Dawkins said. “He’s putting up some real money for them [players]. He told me he’s getting killed.”

When Kondelis asked Dawkins about his conversation with Richardson, Dawkins said, “I’m being told that Sean is the one financing the Deandre Ayton situation.”

ESPN.com – Mark Schlabach

We have no idea what goes on behind closed doors of high-level college recruiting in football and basketball. I have a feeling many would be absolutely embarrassed, if we did.

It’s been the worst-kept secret for a long time because it’s just easier to ignore things that are going to turn your world upside down, than it is to do the right thing.

The right thing, is paying players their cut of all the money that is going around college athletics. It starts with names and likeness (coming soon) and it eventually ends with a cut of everything going to players, just like professional leagues. What that does for the “amateur status” of NCAA athletes…. I don’t care.

As we will all see tomorrow night, these guys are already getting paid anyway. It’s just not a fair amount and it’s shady as fuck.

Prosecutors previously had played at trial the call in which Richardson said Miller was paying $10,000 a month for Ayton.

Miller has denied paying Ayton, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA draft, or any other player to sign with Arizona.

“I never have, and I never will,” Miller said during a news conference in March 2018.

When Kondelis asked Dawkins about Miller’s comments from that news conference, Dawkins said, “When Sean Miller had his press conference, I literally thought of Book, and I was like, ‘S—, I mean Sean should have his own like movie agent or a manager, like he should be an actor. That was a very high-level … I was convinced, honestly.”

ESPN.com – Mark Schlabach

I don’t know how you could even think about sending your kid to Arizona right now, with a guilt-free conscience. Sean Miller is a piece of shit and it’s not because he’s paying his players.

Players in college basketball should get paid, just like anyone that is providing a service to someone in a public way. But instead of being pioneers of change and really standing up for their players, guys like Miller take the easy way out.

Instead of changing a broken system, they take advantage of it. If Miller, Coach K., and Roy Williams went to the NCAA, with real change… then real change would happen and kids would get paychecks that actually reflect more of what they deserve. $10,000/month is pennies on the dollar, compared to what these top recruits would get in the free market, should it leave the underground.

There are taps recorded between Dawkins and Miller, himself too. They’re just as incriminating. You can finish those over at the ESPN story. I’m going to keep racking my brain for LEGITIMATE reasons why anyone would send their kid to the University of Arizona right now…

via GIPHY

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan