The last thing NCAA is going to do is double-check 460,000 student-athletes to see if there's any professional experience in their backgrounds.
"One unusual aspect of the Isacksons’ case is that, according to the charging documents, their older daughter, Lauren, who was admitted to U.C.L.A. as a soccer recruit despite not being a top player, was required to participate on the team as a student-athlete for a year. She is listed on the 2017 roster as a midfielder. Most students involved in the case did not actually play on the teams they had been recruited for. Prosecutors say that, after Lauren Isackson was provisionally admitted to U.C.L.A., Mr. Singer directed $100,000 to a sports marketing company controlled by Jorge Salcedo, the former head men’s soccer coach at U.C.L.A. The government has charged Mr. Salcedo with conspiracy to commit racketeering, and he has pleaded not guilty. Davina Isackson could shed light on whether the coaches of the women’s soccer team were also in on the scheme. Amanda Cromwell, the head coach of women’s soccer at U.C.L.A. since 2013, did not respond to messages." NYT 4/9 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/us/college-admissions-scandal-plea-ucla.html
As might be suspected, UCLA's problems with this behavior in the athletics department stretches back many years, at least going back to a 2014 internal investigation. https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-ucla-college-admissions-track-athlete-20190412-story.html
"Request for any emails and text messages exchanged between three UCLA coaches and five people implicated": https://ktla.com/2019/04/18/ucla-ne...oaches-people-indicted-in-admissions-scandal/ LA Times wants to see what was going on in the participants own words...
No, they need only check college soccer players who list professional clubs in Europe in their Roster biography. Or even just check newly registering players. In England, for instance, you can go to the club website and learn which young players signed professional contracts https://www.sufc.co.uk/news/2016/may/professional-deals-for-youngsters/
Oh, just that easy right? Because soccer is of major importance to the NCAA... There are nearly 40,000 players (double that if you include both genders) in college soccer. Take 25% of that and say they are the newly registered. Sure, NCAA cares about 20,000 soccer players... They probably have one person who actually oversees the soccer side of eligibility. It's a joke. They have bigger fish to fry.
Water polo is not soccer, but still -- https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/05...uilty-this-week-in-college-admission-scandal/ “I just want to confirm. She actually won’t really be part of the water polo team, right?” the Dad asked the scammer.
I have just learned that US colleges can now take in players who have completed the first year of their professional contracts. In Europe, those are nearly always players who have been training and playing in a professional environment for 3-4 years minimum. Why would a US college coach take some raw kid from a US high school when you can sign a hardened pro-club player from Europe? https://www.vertexsoccer.com/ I can see why more parents might be tempted to offer bribes...
Has any American parent actually bribed a college soccer coach (of male or female teams) for a roster spot with the expectation that the student will actually be playing?
https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow...ons-scandal-steven-masera-20190531-story.html Steven Masera, the California accountant accused of handling the books for a test-fixing and bribery scheme that defrauded some of the country’s top universities, will plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy and has agreed to cooperate with investigators, according to court documents unsealed Friday. As bookkeeper for William “Rick” Singer’s business and foundation, Masera, 69, billed parents who hired the Newport Beach college consultant to fix their children’s entrance exams and slip them into elite universities with bribes, according to an indictment charging Masera and 11 others in March with racketeering conspiracy.
Have all of the shoes stopped dropping? So far I haven't seen any men's team players being implicated. Did I miss any?
Not much new in this article, but a good summary -- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a...r-scholarship-without-even-playing/ar-AAG0TjK
Why we aren't better as a soccer nation is summed up in this...water polo, tennis, sailing, and SOCCER The USA elitist sports and somehow soccer is the most prevalent in the scam. How did the lacrosse $$$ sneak past this one
Salcedo's defense is that UCLA knew about and depended on the pay-for-admissions scheme to support "underfunded" programs. https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/col...er-ucla-mens-soccer-coach-fires-back_aid47589
I saw this on TDS and was just about to post it. Jorge's defense seems to be "yeah, I did it but my boss condoned it!" I'm not sure that will spare him a guilty verdict but it's a bad look for the school. It's an aggressive play, especially since so many others in this case, including coaches, have already plead guilty. But, as a wise man once said, when you got nothin', you got nothin' to lose.
The Stanford sailing coach who claimed he only took the money to support the sport's program might be able to claim that, but those who took the money for themselves cannot. My understanding of the origins of the NCAA was to put a bridle on the spending by big schools competing for the best athletes, typically in football. It used to be (so the old stories say) that wealthy supporters of a school's football (or pick a sport) team would not only pay the costs for a promising young athlete, but would also pay the athlete or his family directly. The NCAA was therefore created to give everyone an equal chance and make it more accountable by funneling he money through the schools.
Here's our current tracker: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...ick-singer-guilty-not-guilty-list/3704724002/ 27. Michelle Janavs,of Newport Coast, California, former executive of food manufacturer of Hot Pockets Admitted actions: Paying Singer $50,000 in 2017 after having someone fix her daughter's ACT exam answers and another $50,000 in 2018 to the USC Women's Athletic Funds after her daughter was admitted into USC as a fake beach volleyball recruit. Wired Singer's sham nonprofit an additional $25,000 in February after someone changed answers on the ACT for Janavs' younger daughter. Sentence: 5 months https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...-blues-college-admissions-scandal/4866674002/
Another shoe drops: https://wtop.com/education/2020/04/former-ucla-soccer-coach-to-plead-guilty-in-admissions-scam/ "The former University of California at Los Angeles men’s soccer coach will plead guilty to taking $200,000 in bribes as part of the college admissions cheating scheme, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Jorge Salcedo, 47, of Los Angeles, will admit to getting bribes in exchange for helping get one male and one female student into the school as fake soccer recruits. He will plead guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge, according to court documents."
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/calif-senator-dianne-feinsteins-husband-170311381.html "California Sen. Dianne Feinstein's husband Richard Blum was named by the state auditors office for playing a "particularly problematic" role in the college admissions scandal, which has brought charges against celebrities, business leaders, college coaches, and wealthy parents alike."
From a couple of months ago: Ex-UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo gets 8 months in prison for admissions scam
This link works -- https://therealdeal.com/la/2021/03/22/ex-ucla-soccer-coach-took-bribes-to-pay-off-century-city-home/