re: Forde: Damning evidence against Wade/Miller

It's more virtue signaling from a loser in a dying industry trying to "get a pelt on the wall".

Of course Wade was playing the recruiting game. ALL of the big name coaches play that game. They have to are they are going to be out on their arse looking for a job because they can't win.

I think those who are "outraged" have zero fricking clue how the AAU circuit works, which is where the top talent is recruited. High School basketball is secondary and something most of these guys do for fun.

AAU is a LITERAL marketplace for HS talent. These big time AAU programs aren't funded by taxpayers or catfish dinners. They're funded by shoe companies and the "organizer" (read: hustler) gets paid. Those guys then, in turn, market their players to colleges and shoe companies. It's why the fundamental basketball play is usually shitty. It's not about putting together a team that can win. It's about allowing each guy to show how good he is so the colleges/shoe companies will be willing to pay more. AAU organizers, coaches, parents, uncles, runners, etc are ALL on the take.

And here's the kicker....the NCAA KNOWS this. It's not exactly hard to see circumstantial evidence of guys and their families being paid (Hey, maybe Zion's family was independently wealthy BEFORE he signed with Duke?). In most years that don't involve the country going into complete freakout mode, the NCAA Tournament provides damn near 80% of the NCAA's total operating budget. You want to go broke? Devalue the NCAAT by essentially getting rid of all the great players because they are paid to play.