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Earlier this week, every person with literally any knowledge of how college athletics work wasn’t surprised in the slightest when it was revealed a number of past and former basketball players received cash loans from agents while still in school. This is just the newest in a long line of so-called “scandals” that have reignited the debate about whether or not NCAA athletes should be paid to play— including one that launched an FBI investigation last year.
Former Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person was implicated in that corruption case after he became the point man for a number of bribes between agents, players, and their families. He was nice enough to give the fans of any teams playing the Tigers this season plenty of ammunition when it comes to elevating their heckling game, and a few people in the stands in Gainesville during a recent game against Florida took full advantage.
According to AL.com, a number of people chanting “FBI!” threw cash at Auburn players as they walked down the tunnel back to the locker room after they were upset by the Gators. The players did what any reasonable person in that situation would do and pocketed the money, causing a nice little headache for the school’s compliance department who was forced to report the incident to avoid any NCAA violations.
Coach Bruce Pearl explained the reasoning, saying:
“It was real money, and I think there’s $5 or $6 that are out there, and because you guys know we’re compliant, we’ve actually turned that money over to compliance. Really. I don’t know, it was five or six bucks, but our people have the money. I don’t know what they’re going to do with it, probably give it to charity, but we’ve already self-reported.”
It’s hard to sum up just how stupid this is. Everyone knows if you really want to fuck with another team, you become a booster for your rival and send their worst recruits a bunch of Edible Arrangements. If you’re going to actually spend money to mess with your opponent, that last thing you want to do is half-ass it.