state of SMU basketball

[jtstang]

Excepting the bashers, who continuously pull hamstrings jumping to negative conclusions, none of us here are sure. The rest of us are very reasonably giving SMU the benefit of the doubt until we get more information.

Guilty of being an SMU basher when it comes to this PR debacle. Why is it reasonable to give SMU the benefit of the doubt in anything relating to athletics?? What has SMU done to deserve that, other than put up year after year of less than medicore teams in revenue sports, and play a freaking shell game when it comes to the firing of its basketball coach? I think it is UNreasonable of you NOT to question SMU on this. After all, you are an alum (presumably), and therefore deserve to know what is going on.

[ponyboy]

What shell game? The News reported burgers and cheer. Copeland said it was more. And there's an ongoing NCAA investigation, the result of which will either reveal your answer or vindicate your pessimism. Keep your shorts on. Next subject.

[LA_Mustang]

Ongoing investigation??? Coach Tubbs has been gone for four months. It takes a week to interview people of interest at a small college. As we have said numerous times, they had enough to fire him on April 6th, but four months later they still don't have enough info to release the findings? What, is the NCAA trying to track down individuals in Europe and the Middle East with pertinent information to the investigation? Please.....SMU is hoping this will just go away and we all know it.

[jtstang]

Well said. Somebody should e-mail Dale Hansen and get him on the case to solve this mystery. McClown? mr. pony?? Use your influence.

[ponyboy]

Great news I was unaware of! Per two sources on this board there is no ongoing NCCA investigation and SMU, having committed no infractions, will receive no penalties, either self imposed or from the NCAA, based on actions during the Tubbs era! Can you two confirm?

[EastStang]

This season is going to be ugly. Fall,if eligible, is okay, but needs a strong power forward to help him. I don't see one on our bench. This means that we will be punished in the paint. Fall may block the first shot, but the second, third, fourth attempt won't be stopped. Dez and Roberts need to put the team on their backs, but guards run hot and cold, and other teams will know that they can pressure our guards without much risk since our front court is pretty weak offensively. If we duplicate last year's record, Doherty should be coach of the year.

[LA_Mustang]

According to a McClown post right after the Doherty hire......I remember it very well, so I went back to get the quote:

"We will be on probation next year. In other posts, you don't seem to understand the concept, so I will not elaborate the fact again. Tubbs cheating has definitely hurt the program."
Sat. 4/22 at 10:28am in a thread called Orsini=Awesome

I assumed he had some inside info at that time, but like most of what he has posted, it appears to be inaccurate.

[Blunt Pony]

Ongoing investigation??? Coach Tubbs has been gone for four months. It takes a week to interview people of interest at a small college. As we have said numerous times, they had enough to fire him on April 6th, but four months later they still don't have enough info to release the findings? What, is the NCAA trying to track down individuals in Europe and the Middle East with pertinent information to the investigation? Please.....SMU is hoping this will just go away and we all know it.

How many times has a coach "resigned to pursue other interests" or "was burned out" only to resurface later in another coaching role? When coaches are fired it is generally agreed by both parties to just part ways in a manner that does not tarnish either side. Coach Tubbs was let go for many reasons, not the least of which is that his teams were not good. Package that with what we know about the grade issues, possible improprieties and a new AD and you have the makings of a coaching change.

Is it fair to Tubbs to drag his name through the mud by listing all of the fireable offenses (if some of the allegations are true) or would he rather part ways take the money and move on to another opportunity.

Demanding answers might not be in the best interest of the person that you are trying to defend.

In defense of Tubbs or anyone else for that matter, if his record had been steller, I believe any other issues would have been swept under the rug. This may not be fair or what we want to hear, but this is hardly a new concept in college athletics.

Pro and college sports are a business and it is always the fans that can never grasp that concept.

[Stallion]

actually the concept in College Sports today is the quick, open and thorough disclosure of NCAA violations. Ben Dover and run along. Let's be honest, we would all know the details of this investigation by now if SMU were a public school covered by the Freedom of Information Acts. The concern isn't about Tubbs-its about SMU and how at least one major contributor has allegedly been involved in NCAA violations and yet SMU has basically swept it under the rug-again. I personally don't like it. I'd rather take the "fresh air" under the Freedom Information Act than the blind ignorance approach under the private school exemption. This school would have been much better served in the 1980s if the "fresh air" approach had been used.

[friarwolf]

Ongoing investigation??? Coach Tubbs has been gone for four months. It takes a week to interview people of interest at a small college. As we have said numerous times, they had enough to fire him on April 6th, but four months later they still don't have enough info to release the findings? What, is the NCAA trying to track down individuals in Europe and the Middle East with pertinent information to the investigation? Please.....SMU is hoping this will just go away and we all know it.

The NCAA can take up to a year to conclude an investigation. The interviews on campus by the NCAA took at least 6 weeks this spring. If you look at the history of these things, most if not all schools assume the position of not discussing anything in specifics of an investigation until the NCAA is ready to comment and issue its findings. I would pose this question to our numerous esteemed legal minds - if you were SMU's lead counsel, would it be your recommendation to come out now and spill everything regarding this investigation in advance of the NCAA's findings?

[Blunt Pony]

actually the concept in College Sports today is the quick, open and thorough disclosure of NCAA violations. Ben Dover and run along. Let's be honest, we would all know the details of this investigation by now if SMU were a public school covered by the Freedom of Information Acts. The concern isn't about Tubbs-its about SMU and how at least one major contributor has allegedly been involved in NCAA violations and yet SMU has basically swept it under the rug-again. I personally don't like it. I'd rather take the "fresh air" under the Freedom Information Act than the blind ignorance approach under the private school exemption. This school would have been much better served in the 1980s if the "fresh air" approach had been used.

The booster story has been told. Maybe that is all there is. We don't know if there is any more or less to the story until the NCAA comments. My personal opinion is that the booster story made it an easier PR move than firing a coach after 2 years of service. I believe SMU cut bait on a coach that appeared to be floundering with no sign of recovery. As Greggo would say, "That theory cannot be proven", but that is what I think. I also think dragging Tubbs' name through the mud does neither party any good.

[jtstang]

The NCAA can take up to a year to conclude an investigation. The interviews on campus by the NCAA took at least 6 weeks this spring. If you look at the history of these things, most if not all schools assume the position of not discussing anything in specifics of an investigation until the NCAA is ready to comment and issue its findings. I would pose this question to our numerous esteemed legal minds - if you were SMU's lead counsel, would it be your recommendation to come out now and spill everything regarding this investigation in advance of the NCAA's findings?

When Malin was fired they said on the day he was let go that it was because of NCAA violations and they said what those violations were. When Tubbs was fired, Copeland said "it's for violations and certainly for more than what was listed in the paper" or words to that effect. If I were SMU's lead counsel, I would recommend not firing your coach until you tell you fans why--not for legal reasons--but because it makes better PR sense than what's happened here. Or at least I'd recommend hiring a new PR firm because the one you got can't do their job worth a damn. Seriously though, I cannot recall any head coach ever being fired for NCAA violations where the reasons for his firing were not made public concurrently. Can you?

Stallion's right, if this were a state school we would not see this kind of hide the ball BS.

[jtstang]

The NCAA can take up to a year to conclude an investigation. The interviews on campus by the NCAA took at least 6 weeks this spring.

Just fyi, the investigation which resulted inthe death penalty was instituted by the NCAA on October 21, 1986 and the final report issued on February 25, 1987.

[mrydel]

SMU has a history of hiding the facts and letting them be found or be missed. It is like a child closing his eyes so you can not see him. Coming clean has been the only justification, right or wrong, for leniency that I have seen in the past 35 years of investigations.

[friarwolf]

The NCAA can take up to a year to conclude an investigation. The interviews on campus by the NCAA took at least 6 weeks this spring.

Just fyi, the investigation which resulted inthe death penalty was instituted by the NCAA on October 21, 1986 and the final report issued on February 25, 1987.

I'm just quoting from the NCAA website.