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Miami U....is still clean?

OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0
Coker: Miami still clean after recruiting Williams

Updated: Sunday July 25, 2004 5:37PM
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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Miami's recruitment of a top football prospect with numerous legal troubles won't undo the Hurricanes' years of hard work in cleaning up their act, coach Larry Coker said Sunday.

Willie Williams, regarded as the nation's best freshman linebacker, was sentenced to probation twice in the past month for separate crimes -- including an incident during a recruiting trip to rival Florida.

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!--endclickprintexclude-->Miami officials currently are considering whether to admit the 19-year-old Williams.

"I'm very comfortable with what I know about the reasons we signed Willie Williams, the progress he's made and the things he can bring, not only on the football field," Coker said. "I'd like to see a very positive, positive outcome when Willie Williams is admitted to the university."

The recruitment of the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Williams has been something of an embarrassment for the Hurricanes.

Williams has a criminal background, arrested at least 11 times since 1999. Also, he has come to embody the sordid side of recruiting after he told a newspaper his stories of luxurious accommodations and lavish meals while making official visits to schools.

Miami's administration still stings from the program's excesses of the 1980s and 90s, which the NCAA eventually punished with a one-year bowl ban, three years probation and the loss of dozens of scholarships.

"We have worked very hard to create a clean image at the University of Miami," Coker told the Florida Sports Writers Association during its college football media day. "And that's why we've been very careful about recommending to admit Willie Williams."

Last month, Williams pleaded no contest to a felony count of setting off fire extinguishers at a Gainesville hotel and misdemeanor battery for hugging a woman without her permission. He received a year's probation for each plea stemming from the Jan. 30 incident.

Because of his Gainesville arrest, that violated Williams' probation imposed for a stereo shop burglary in 2002. On July 6, he was sentenced to three years probation and 250 hours of community service. Williams also is subject to random testing for alcohol and unprescribed drugs.

Williams' recruiting expose, published in The Miami Herald, has prompted the NCAA to crack down on the excesses schools commit while wooing high school athletes.

The rules, which would be in place for the upcoming academic year, call for colleges to use commercial airlines and coach airfares to fly athletes to campus, lodge them in "standard" accommodations and serve them reasonable meals.

Also, schools would be banned from giving recruits rides in vehicles not used for other prospective students, handing out personalized jerseys and using scoreboard presentations featuring the player.

Williams said private jets flew him to schools, he ate dinners of lobster and steak, he slept in a hotel room with a hot tub on the balcony and Coker himself drove him from his Carol City home to campus in a Cadillac Escalade.

Coker acknowledged feeding recruits lobster and steak, "but that's not excessive. Maybe nine lobsters is."

Coker added that he regretted the new rules would prohibit schools from flying in a recruit's parents. Their visits are essential, Coker said, because they need to see the city of Miami for themselves.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, also attending the FSWA's media day, denied sending a private plane to fetch Williams. But he agreed the NCAA needed to step in.

"Everybody's trying to keep up with the Joneses," Bowden said.


Its good to see them taking some heat rather than OSU
:osu4:
 
It's funny how Miami is getting all the heat...didn't the other schools recruiting him know that this guy was a thug? It would be interesting to see a list of schools that offered this scUMbag a scholarship....
 
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yes but also a list of schools who backed off him in a hurry. if i recall ohio state dropped the pursuit early in the game. because they didnt have a shot or because he was a thug, i dont know. but i do know tressel said NO and he said it LOUD.
 
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yes but they will always carry their dirty image as long as they win football games and people still hate them.

people (myself included) hate teams that are winning and dont hate teams as much when they arent. i used to absolutely hate the cowboys. now its hard to "hate" them. same for ND......although the idiot ND fans around me make it much easier.
 
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I don't know that is the case for everyone.

I personally have always hated Miami. Granted the way they acted in the 80s - early 90s helped my hatred grow but, I never did like them.

I have always hated scUM. Beating them when they are down, which is rare, is just as satisfying as when they are having a good season.

I have always hated Texas, Alabama, Tennesee, Washington, UCLA, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Florida, Florida State, and North Carolina. Winning or losing I root against these teams.

There are more teams I hate. There are coaches I hate like Fanchione, which makes me hate aTm. But those come more from winning against the Bucks or causing something to happen I don't like. Such as MSU, and ND. I don't hate them. How can I hate someone that hates scUM. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Does the 98MSU loss make me hate them a little bit. Yes, but that has more to do with what they did to us. They can go undefeated for all I care, as long as we beat them.

Miami keeps trying to work it's way down my list, but then you have KWII "The Chosen One" Sojiah, and look at them jump up my hate list.
 
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I guess it just really bothers me that there aren't exact rules put in place by the NCAA when it comes to these types of issues. If they did anything valuable that could be it. Every team should have to play by the same rules when it comes to admitting players whether it is for acadamics or for criminal acts.

I applaud the schools that are willing to take a stand and do what is right in the admissions process. That is not to say that people shouldn't be given a second chance in life, but this is just ridiculous. I hope this comes back to bite UM and Coker in the ass......
 
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I had to laugh when Coker announced him rehabilitated (paraphrasing).

Does anyone here besides myself feel that he's guaranteed going to get in some type of trouble in the next 2 years ?

Boy, Coker sure is a stand up guy to give the kid a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh........12th chance.

If he was a 3rd stringer would we be having this discussion ?


He'll shit on Coker before it's over with !
 
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The kid is 19, and through his eyes, the world has been kissing his ass. Why would he believe this is his last chance? Hasn't he heard this tune before? Too bad for him, because he has athletic skills that could open so many positive doors.
 
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tibor75 said:
It's funny how Miami is getting all the heat...didn't the other schools recruiting him know that this guy was a thug? It would be interesting to see a list of schools that offered this scUMbag a scholarship....

Miami is the only school who offered Day Care for him to keep him out of trouble. I'm not sure if giving a kid a baby sitter is a NCAA recruiting violation. :biggrin:
 
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