Kuzma on list of players who received money from ASM sports in 2015…

[HoosierUte]

Yahoo Sports Article

Nothing mentioned in the article but if you look at the doc pictured he is on there with $9,500.00 next to his name.  I don’t like it one bit. 

[ironman1315]

Neither do I. But it appears it was a personal rather than institutional problem. At least for now.

[Tony (admin)]

“When this all comes out, Hall of Fame coaches should be scared, lottery picks won’t be eligible to play and almost half of the 16 teams the NCAA showed on its initial NCAA tournament show this weekend should worry about their appearance being vacated.”

[Duhwayne]

If true, ths looks like a payment from the agency to the player. He was already on campus. I’m sure there is pressure and grease when selecting a pro agent. We’ll find out I guess.

[HoosierUte]

Yeah doesn’t seem to be a payment to come to Utah but rather a payment for ASM to land him as a client when he eventually went pro.  Institutionally I am not sure what can be done to prevent this at the individual school level.  

 

[Utah]

So, after the games were over, Kuzma is in classes not playing basketball, took some money from an agent with no University of Utah involvement and then went pro. 

Big whoopty do. All Kuz did wrong was sign the check then drop out instead of dropping out then signing the check. Wah wah. 

[stonguse]

^This. At what point did the University of Utah do something wrong? 

[HoosierUte]

Except that the document says “As of December 31, 2015” right at the top. That means that dates back to his second year at the U (15-16 season). He played a full year(16-17 season) after this doc was created.  There may well be another ill-advised document showing further payments for the 2016 year. 

I still don’t think this reflects on the University as there is no indication that the University or any booster were involved, and this doesn’t seem to be in regards to recruiting but ASM trying to land a client themselves. If a firm is going to funnel money to kids on the side it is very difficult for the school to know about it. 

[Staples]

I’d be curious to know how close these alleged payments coincide with Kuzma’s big game against Duke in Madison Square Garden. That happened in December of 2015 and was sort of his coming out party on the national stage.

[noneyadb]

Players that are likely just one and done, why not enroll as a walk-on and have the agencies pay for your schooling? Avoid all the issues that come with being a scholarship athlete.

[Utah]

One HUGE problem is agents wouldn’t front the money upfront for a kid like Kuzma and his family is so poor, a lot of these kids send part of their monthly stipend home for their families. 

Waiting 2-4 years for that cash wouldn’t be possible for some of these kids. 

Its why I’ll never fault a kid for taking money. 

[Puget Ute]

I completely agree with not faulting a kid for taking money dangled in front of them, especially when their loved ones are struggling to make ends meet.  The NCAA needs to get its act together and allow schools to greatly increase the stipend for players, or else this kind of thing is just going to continue.  Maybe have a standard ‘allowable’ need-based stipend that is modified by locality adjustments.

Also, ALL of the penalties should be levied against the crooked agents.  Maybe they need to get their agent licenses suspended for a year or two when they get caught doing this.  Retroactively punishing the schools and students is like smacking your dog the day after he peed on the carpet – the punishment is just so far removed from the crime as to be irrelevant.

Pitino and the AD getting fired at Louisville was justifiable. Forcing Louisville to vacate their 2013 championship is just silly and irrelevant. That is like making me vacate the candy bar I ate last month.

[PlainsUte]

Scholarship or not you can’t be getting paid.

[EagleMountainUte]

Delon Wright got braces at Utah surprised they didn’t go after Utah for that. 

[PlainsUte]

Well Delon’s brother is quite wealthy.

[Puget Ute]

I thought he arrived with the braces.  Also, he couldn’t afford to get them adjusted (didn’t have an orthodontist in Utah) and basically wore them for several years. 

[Author]

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