Commentary, Sports

MCDANNALD: Coaches continue to never learn from past mistakes

Recruiting violations are starting to feel as common as a three-second violation in college basketball these days.

Yet, individuals connected still find ways to get hired elsewhere.

The latest occurrences are at Southern California and Division II’s Cal State Stanislaus — USC with the black eye and Stanislaus with the puzzling hiring.

Tim Floyd resigned from his head coaching job Tuesday amid allegations that he paid $1,000 to Louis Johnson, who was a former associate to ex-Trojan O.J. Mayo. He joins former Memphis-turned-Kentucky head coach John Calipari among this summer’s accused coaches.

Meanwhile, CSU Stanislaus hired Larry Reynolds as its head coach June 5. If the name sounds familiar, then that’s because it is.

Reynolds is the former Long Beach State coach who guided the 49ers to an NCAA Tournament appearance but watched the men’s basketball program get hit with a three-year probation from the NCAA in 2008. Assistant coaches on Reynolds’ staff arranged and paid for recruits to take community college courses to speed up the Division I eligibility process.

Reynolds’ contract was not renewed following the trip to the Big Dance.

According to The Modesto Bee, Reynolds’ hiring went against the wishes of two screening committees consisting of nine Stanislaus staff members and boosters. Not only that, but both committees unanimously wanted Stanislaus alumnus James Blake to be offered the position.

But forget that Blake appeared to be a slam dunk decision by that vote of confidence. Athletic Director Milt Richards chose Reynolds, anyway.

Common sense doesn’t seem to be common practice around the college basketball ranks. Over and over again, coaches are accused and/or busted for recruiting violations, yet there’s always a genius who thinks he can outsmart the system and get away with it. Not far behind are desperate athletic directors hoping a coach has changed his way and will not turn equally desperate in the “win now” culture we live in.

Hopefully Reynolds has learned his lesson and won’t further damage his reputation a la Jim Harrick, who goofed up at UCLA and once more at Rhode Island in the late 1990s. The same goes for Floyd, who will surely bounce back with another program within the next few years because the sports world is the biggest believer in second, third … even fourth chances. Just ask Pacman Jones.

But somewhere — maybe not right now — another recruiting scandal will start its trail. It’s just a matter of time before another name joins the never-ending list of the ashamed.
 

 

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