McDonald's Nuggets: NCAA hints at sanctions; Auburn's roll and more
In this week’s McDonald’s Nuggets, we take a look at the FBI case, how aboard the Bruce Pearl bandwagon, talk Kerry Blackshear and more.
WHAT'S ON MY MIND: NCAA starting to take action in FBI case
Ever since Sept. 26, 2017, when four college basketball assistant coaches were arrested as part of an FBI investigation into the sport, people have been wondering what type of penalties could be coming down the road the schools involved. Reports surfaced on Wednesday night that at least six programs will be receiving a notice of allegations from the NCAA involving Level I violations.
Why is that significant? Level I violations are the most serious NCAA violations. Those are the type of violations that can lead to more coaches losing their jobs, post-season bans, scholarship losses, and recruiting restrictions. I’m not going to try to guess which schools will be hit in this around because so many have been brought up in the trials, but I feel comfortable saying it will be programs that matter getting hit with serious violations.
We’re still likely at least a year from any violations being slapped on any programs for this mess, but I always believe that in situations like this it’s the uncertainty of what the NCAA will do that kills programs.
Once a school knows what it is being charged with and what the penalties are, you can manage it. When you are under investigation and penalties aren’t known, that’s when you can get killed in recruiting because other coaches can tell recruits it’s going to be really bad and it’s hard to defend against that. It crippled North Carolina in basketball for several years. It hurt USC and Miami in football for a while too. The next few years will certainly will be interesting in regards to this case.
PREDICTION: Auburn will land a top 5 class in 2020
Bruce Pearl has always been known as a great recruiter and he’s done really well on the recruiting trail since taking over at Auburn. After making the Final Four this year, the momentum the Tigers have going into the 2020 recruiting cycle is as strong as any school in the country.
In the past two weeks alone, Auburn has had five of the top 19 players in the 2020 Rivals150 on campus. The first weekend of June was a huge recruiting weekend for Pearl’s staff as they had three five-star Georgia native make the trip to campus in B.J. Boston, Walker Kessler and Sharife Cooper. The following weekend, both Greg Brown and Jaden Springer made it to campus for official visits.
It would be a pretty big surprise at this point if Auburn doesn’t end up landing Cooper. With Boston and Kessler, Duke appears to be the biggest competition with Kentucky also being a major factor for Boston. Last week I predicted Kessler ends up at Duke. While I still feel that will be the case, I do think Auburn is in this one really deep. He had a great time on his visit there and it doesn’t hurt that one of his good friends, Justin Powell, recently committed to the Tigers.
With all the momentum Pearl has going his way, don’t be surprised when Auburn finishes in the top five of the 2020 team recruiting rankings.
RECRUITING NOTE: SEC battle brewing for Blackshear
Kerry Blackshear is the hottest commodity remaining in the transfer portal this year. Blackshear is coming off a great redshirt junior year at Virginia Tech, where he averaged 14.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and now has top programs all over the country chasing after him.
He initially entered the NBA Draft, but the Florida native decided to back out play his final year of college basketball. Since then, Blackshear took his first two official visits to Florida followed by Arkansas. His next visit is set for Tennessee this weekend and a visit to Kentucky is also in the works.
COMMITMENTS OF THE WEEK: Jalen Wilson, Isaiah Moss to Kansas
It was a great week to be Bill Self. On Monday, the Jayhawks reeled in a commitment from Iowa graduate transfer Isaiah Moss, who previously had committed to play his last year at Arkansas before changing his mind. The 6-foot-5 guard gives Kansas a capable three-point shooter as Moss shot 42.1% from beyond the arc as a redshirt junior.
On Wednesday, Jalen Wilson made it official for Kansas as well and gives the Jayhawks even more perimeter firepower. The former Michigan signee is the No. 47 overall prospect in the 2019 class and at 6-foot-7 can help out at both forward spots.