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| (IU freshmen Peter Jurkin and Hanner Mosquera-Perea) |
Being in a position of leadership is not easy. I tend to try to back off from being overly critical of anyone who has to make decisions that affect large groups of people, it can't be easy and you will never make everyone happy, I get that. The IHSAA and the NCAA have done some things during my lifetime that are questionable, to say the least, but I have remained relatively quiet....until now.
Indiana University men's basketball program was decimated during the Kelvin Sampson era due to illegal phone calls...phone calls. Meanwhile other programs were and are doing much worse. I know of stories from pretty reliable sources but have no actual proof that most big time college coaches during this time had "throw away" phones in case the NCAA came snooping around. Also, you know those Master Card cash cards? They apparently are given out like candy at some universities. A booster buys a bunch, gives them to someone who gives them to someone who gives them to athletes. Should athletes be paid? That's another article for another time. (Oh, by the way, you can now make as many phone calls and text message as you want to recruits. The rule that almost killed IU basketball is now legal.)
But what has happened to Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin, two basketball players for the IU men's basketball team is absurd, ridiculous and any other term that shows complete ignorance on behalf of the NCAA ruling committee.
What happened? Some of you may be asking. The NCAA ruled that Indiana freshmen Hanner Mosquera-Perea and Peter Jurkin will be suspended for the first nine games of this season and forced to pay money to charity. Mosquera-Perea and Jurkin did nothing wrong in this situation. They came to the United States from foreign countries with the A-HOPE Foundation for a better future with basketball. (A-Hope has provided players for many programs in the U.S., not just IU) They did receive benefits from A-Hope and its founder, Mark Adams because they had nothing when they arrived to this country.
However, the NCAA had no issue with benefits Mosquera-Perea and Jurkin received. The problem was that Adams, who also served as Mosquera-Perea’s guardian, was considered an Indiana booster when he provided benefits. Adams was considered a booster because he donated $185 over a seven-year span from 1986-1992. That money came in the form of checks written by Adams’ ex-wife for bumper stickers, in the amount of $20-$30 per year. All of this done before these two players were even born! That $185 over seven years is costing two players a total of 18 games and around $1,500.
Adams met with the IU compliance department, their legal department and had a recorded conference call with the NCAA. He wanted to know exactly what a non-profit organization could do to make sure that nothing wrong was done. The NCAA response was that they didn't know and could not answer the question. Adams volunteered to drive to Indianapolis at any time, he provided bank records to prove that nothing was done backhanded or under the table.
This is not right to these two kids. I wouldn't care what university they played for, this is wrong. The NCAA is working hard to deal with the integrity of the institution of college athletics right now...? Really? This is at the top of their list? Universities and the NCAA itself is making MILLIONS off college athletes and then has the nerve to do this to two kids who are trying to improve their futures. Integrity? When it comes to the common sense of integrity the NCAA needs to look in the mirror first.
