Anonymous
09-17-2001, 09:46 PM
Former Ohio State Head Coach John Cooper, speaking at the Knoxville Quarterback Club today, didn't mince any words. He called for the NCAA Death Penalty for both Alabama and Kentucky for their part in the Memphis
high school football slave trade.
Cooper, who won more Big 10 games in his tenure than any other coach, said his OSU assistants were quoted a price for Albert Means when they went to his high school coach, who is now under federal criminal indictment. He instructed his coaches to back off immediately. He said he told all his
assistants at Tulsa, Arizona State, and OSU, that if they knowingly violated an NCAA rule, they would be immediately fired. This is the same rule that U.T. has had in effect for years.
Cooper said that it has been common knowledge for many years that Memphis
high school coaches have been engaging in slave trading, shopping their players to the highest bidder. He said he was amazed that the bidding got as high as $200,000 for Means, who now plays at Memphis. He also said it was very well known among the coaching fraternity that Alabama and Kentucky
have been buying players for quite some time.
He also said that if a school has a strong President, Athletics Director, and Head Coach, who all make it clear that they will not tolerate NCAA violations, they will not happen. Obviously, the Dubose and Mummy regimes were both rotten to the core.
Cooper made it clear that he felt like the NCAA should "lock up both those programs." His emphatic statements were very insightful. He also expressed an interest in the Vanderbilt job should it become open this year.
high school football slave trade.
Cooper, who won more Big 10 games in his tenure than any other coach, said his OSU assistants were quoted a price for Albert Means when they went to his high school coach, who is now under federal criminal indictment. He instructed his coaches to back off immediately. He said he told all his
assistants at Tulsa, Arizona State, and OSU, that if they knowingly violated an NCAA rule, they would be immediately fired. This is the same rule that U.T. has had in effect for years.
Cooper said that it has been common knowledge for many years that Memphis
high school coaches have been engaging in slave trading, shopping their players to the highest bidder. He said he was amazed that the bidding got as high as $200,000 for Means, who now plays at Memphis. He also said it was very well known among the coaching fraternity that Alabama and Kentucky
have been buying players for quite some time.
He also said that if a school has a strong President, Athletics Director, and Head Coach, who all make it clear that they will not tolerate NCAA violations, they will not happen. Obviously, the Dubose and Mummy regimes were both rotten to the core.
Cooper made it clear that he felt like the NCAA should "lock up both those programs." His emphatic statements were very insightful. He also expressed an interest in the Vanderbilt job should it become open this year.