This UGA offseason went from relatively quiet to a small fever pitch in a bit of a hurry. No, nothing earth-shattering has happened, really, but two quick bits of news in a 24 hour period do seem to have people talking.
First, let's tackle the
Jarvis Jones & Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (KCP) debacle that's going on:
I tweeted yesterday on my personal account that there was an Auburn-esque type situation brewing in Columbus. Was it a little dramatic? Some could have seen it that way, but I don't. I used that language because this is a prime opportunity for both KCP and Jones to say that they had no idea about these benefits and let the NCAA handle it from there. Obviously, nothing came of the Newton saga than one day of ineligibility, and since then, the whole situation is just passed down info that sounds something like this:
"You just wait. On (insert future date within a two-week timeframe), the court documents will be unsealed and (insert random rich Auburn booster name) will take the stand and the NCAA will (obligatory NCAA "hammer" remark) on the program. They'll forfeit everything and will be sent back to (random historical reference that eludes to the Stone Age)."
Anyway, this is a really interesting situation. At this moment, Jones is only dealing with roughly $800+ dollars in extra benefits, which doesn't put him in terrible shape, as that amount of money can be repaid and I wouldn't see any need for extra time than 2-3 games. KCP is in about the same situation right now, as his extra benefits for his mom's cell phone only totaled about $280. However, it doesn't help his situation that he hung up the phone on the police when they talked to him and asked him to meet in person. Legally though, it's not too bad of an issue.
Personally, at worst I think KCP loses 6-10 games. That'd be the very worst case scenario I see right now. It honestly may be about five games total, as a similar situation from another AAU program was discovered that paid a player about $4100 and he is only serving six games, including one Big 12 tournament game from last year.
What UGA fans need to remember is that if nothing new is discovered, there's no need to worry about severe suspensions for each. However, there's never anything good about the NCAA sniffing anywhere around your program. Remember, it wasn't like AJ's jersey scandal was discovered by the NCAA until they went and asked him about a report that he'd been to an agent-sponsored party. They dug around in that and found out about the jersey. He was home free until that moment.
So what'd we learn here today folks? The moral of the story is that AAU is a cesspool and you never give the NCAA any information willingly.
I'll comment on the Brent Benedict matter in another post shortly.
Until next time kids.
Be safe.
