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Jamarkus McFarland recruiting spawns
some captivating journalism ... if nothing else

By Kevin Allenon December 26, 2008

One of the most highly sought-after nuggets this year in the gold mine that is Texas high school football is Jamarkus McFarland. He's a 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive tackle from Lufkin High School in Lufkin, Texas.

He's a college coach's dream. In addition to being a gifted athlete, McFarland is a solid student and president of his class. He's also the subject of one of the finest pieces of sports reporting I've read in a long time.

New York Times reporter Thayer Evans followed the 18-year-old's journey from blue-chip recruit this past summer to committed Oklahoma Sooner as of 12:01 Christmas morning. [Read the full story here]

After narrowing his choices to college football powerhouses USC, LSU, Texas and Oklahoma, in the end it came down to just Texas and OU.

Some of the details that emerge in the article about the schools' recruitment tactics are startling, but not entirely surprising.

They're startling for the simple fact that stories of recruitment transgressions and improprieties are so often assumed, glossed over and rarely printed in any reputable news sources. That the allegations appear in the pages of the New York Times makes you wonder whether the NCAA will follow up with a proper investigation.

The Times published part of a paper written by McFarland for his English class where he detailed a party he attended in Dallas that was hosted by Longhorn fans:

"I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants," McFarland wrote. "Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option.

Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude."

He continued: "The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached."

The article also claims that Texas offered money to McFarland's mother.

Longhorn fan sites, including Burnt Orange Nation, are blowing up over the issue, questioning whether Evans confirmed certain facts in the article and even claiming some eye-witness accounts of the party in question that dispute McFarland's take.

What do you think? Should this prompt an NCAA investigation?

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sportsprose/2008/12/jamarkus_mcfarland_recruiting.html

Should, but will not because they are texas.

Please list all violations of NCAA rule violations committed by a representative of the university as defined by the NCAA in that story-because I must have missed them. I don't know about today but when I was in school your description of rules violations that apparently should cause an NCAA investigation could have occurred at just about any fraternity party at SMU. And you blatently misrepresented that Texas offered money to the recruit's Mom-but that's what you do because he are prejudiced against the school.

Here's what is says;

McFarland’s mother, Kashemeyia Adams, said she received numerous offers, including one for an interest-free loan for a former classmate, if her son were to choose Texas. She said she did not believe the offers were affiliated with the Texas football staff.

"And you blatently misrepresented that Texas offered money
to the recruit's Mom-but that's what you do because he are
prejudiced against the school"

Wrong again counselor...I didn't "misrepresent" anything,
because I copied and pasted the article from the Chicago Sun Times
which I linked at the bottom of my post. Can you not read?

Next?

and incorrectly offered the CONCLUSION that;

"The article also claims that Texas offered money to McFarland's mother"

That is in fact YOUR conclusion not what the article said. I object and ask the Court to sustain my objection and request that the evidence be stricken from the record.

Did the article mention that this is an annual party; and if so, where and when?

Thanks....

and incorrectly offered the CONCLUSION that; "The article
also claims that Texas offered money to McFarland's mother"
That is in fact YOUR conclusion not what the article said. I
object and ask the Court to sustain my objection and request
that the evidence be stricken from the record.

Do you really practice law?

If you do actually practice law, you obviously don't research
well, because NOTHING, NADA, in my post except the title
of the thread are my words...you say I "make a conclusion"
Where?....Those are not my words!....look at the original source
it all comes from the Chicago Sun Times which I
sourced/linked at the bottom of the intial post. How many times
do you have to be told and shown that FACT before you get it?

Its a CONCLUSION [deleted] whether made by you or the Chicago paper-here is the ORIGINAL article-show me where that claim is made


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/sport ... ref=sports

SMU89 wrote:Did the article mention that this is an annual party; and if so, where and when?

Thanks....

If you find out, my mom will drop us off if your's picks up.

But seriously......let me know.

Junior wrote:

SMU89 wrote:Did the article mention that this is an annual party; and if so, where and when?

Thanks....

If you find out, my mom will drop us off if your's picks up.

But seriously......let me know.

yes, it is.

I would say yes there should at the very least be an investigation of UT made by the NCAA. If UT school boosters are taking underage recruits to parties where illegal drugs are "prevalent", UT boosters are possibly offering "interest free loans" to either recruits, their families, or friends of recruits in an attempt to bribe the recruit into signing with a university I assume that it would be against NCAA rules. When the mother of a recruit says "“It’s been made known that enough income would flow through where I would be good for a while", yes I think it is time to investigate. Are there really people that think the possibility of "interest free loans" and "income flow" being offered to a recruit's family should not even be investigated?

VarsityShop wrote:I would say yes there should at the very least be an investigation of UT made by the NCAA. If UT school boosters are taking underage recruits to parties where illegal drugs are "prevalent", UT boosters are possibly offering "interest free loans" to either recruits, their families, or friends of recruits in an attempt to bribe the recruit into signing with a university I assume that it would be against NCAA rules. When the mother of a recruit says "“It’s been made known that enough income would flow through where I would be good for a while", yes I think it is time to investigate. Are there really people that think the possibility of "interest free loans" and "income flow" being offered to a recruit's family should not even be investigated?

learn how to read. that is a gross representation of what the article actually said, regardless of who said it, which was mostly BIG MAMA in this case.

Stallion wrote:Please list all violations of NCAA rule violations committed by a representative of the university as defined by the NCAA...

If the allegations of free alcohol (including, I'm guessing, the offering of booze to recruits) and the rampant availability of drugs are accurate at a party hosted by UT boosters or other alums, then those are absolutely NCAA violations.

With that said, BIGHORSE is exactly right — the NCAA will not even look into this.

If this guy wasn't signed and sealed somewhere other than Texas before this came out, he sure is now.

Counselor Stallion is on retainer for Daddy DeLoss.

OF COURSE, if true, these are NCAA violations. Boosters are what got us into trouble. Big boy schools, post DP, know the only thing they have to do is maintain plausible deniability.

That ain't hard. A wink and a nod, folks, a wink and a nod.

I say investigate 'em, then de-ball 'em.

give it up, mr. pony. Crying foul 20 years later isn't going to do you or us any good. Sorry the horns built eveything we wish we were.