Basketball scandal

9/16/2010: I don’t know the details but some sort of scandal is brewing with the bball team. George Schroeder of the RG has a piece on it here. Presumably some sports agent gave one of the players a few grand to make it through the school year before he signed with a pro team. And of course that’s an NCAA violation, because if the NCAA let people pay college athletes then colleges would start competing for players by paying them. Then there would be less money in the pot for their coaches, who run the NCAA and set the rules for their own private benefit. Altman gets $1.8 million a year with a 7 year guarantee – and it’s illegal to pay a player a dime. College sports is rotten to the core. Schroeder’s story ends with this:

The new coach deserves the very best chance to succeed. Because he’s committed, and there’s no going back.

Well, actually he’s not that committed, it seems. John Hunt of the Oregonian has much more, like this interesting angle:

But Altman, who signed a term sheet when he was hired in April, has yet to sign a contract, according to multiple records requests by The Oregonian — another complicating factor.

Presumably he’s figured he can use this bad news to get still more money from us. When she was asked about this contract back in July, while the news on Bellotti’s non-existent contract was still fresh, then interim AD Lorraine Davis had this to say:

Dana Altman, on the job for nearly 11 weeks as Oregon men’s basketball coach, does not have a formal contract despite a university pledge to quickly finalize such documents.

But interim athletic director Lorraine Davis said Friday that Oregon and Altman’s agent are trading paperwork during the busy summer recruiting months and that Altman’s contract will be completed soon.

“As far as I understand and know, we’re very close,” Davis said. “Certainly you wish these things would be done in a week, but.. I’m not concerned.”

Of course Lorraine wasn’t concerned. She’d made damn sure her contract for $30,000 a month was signed, and she got paid regardless.