Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Five Southeastern Conference football players, including former Alabama All-American tackle D.J. Fluker, allegedly received impermissible benefits prior to completing their collegiate careers.

According to a Yahoo! Sports report, former Alabama defensive end Luther Davis acted as an intermediary between the players and multiple NFL agents and financial advisers. The report says Davis funneled money and benefits totaling $45,500 to Fluker, Tennessee starting defensive end Maurice Couch, former Volunteers quarterback Tyler Bray, and former Mississippi State players Fletcher Cox and Chad Bumphis.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2013/0911...er01jr_200.jpgDJ Fluker
Marvin Gentry/USA TODAY Sports
D.J. Fluker allegedly received impermissible benefits during his playing career at Alabama.
The allegations would violate NCAA bylaw 12.3.1.2, which prohibits athletes from receiving extra benefits from prospective agents or marketing representatives. The violation could impact Fluker's eligibility and potentially the Alabama wins he participated in, including the 2012 Discover BCS National Championship.

Alabama has been made aware of the report, athletic director Bill Battle said in a statement Wednesday.

"Our compliance department was looking into this situation prior to being notified that this story was actually going to be published," Battle said in the release. "Our review is ongoing. We diligently educate our student-athletes on maintaining compliance with NCAA rules, and will continue to do so."

Alabama coach Nick Saban said Wednesday he supports the school's compliance department and then refused to answer further questions on the matter.

"From an administrative standpoint, from a compliance standpoint, I think our people here do a fantastic job," Saban said. "I know that we have, I think, one of the best agent education programs in terms of what we try to do to help our players make good choices and decisions by what they do and what they don't do when it comes to agents.

"I have full confidence in our leadership that we're going to do whatever we need to do to handle the situation appropriately, and I know that we will."

When asked another question on the matter, a frustrated Saban said that he wouldn't talk about it anymore but would answer questions about the upcoming Texas A&M game.

When no questions were asked he walked off, saying "Thanks for your interest in the game."

The Yahoo! Sports report shows benefits coming from multiple sources based on financial records and text messages belonging to Davis, who is said to have worked as a runner for the agents involved. Yahoo! Sports authenticated transactions between Fluker and Davis, including money transfers, hotel stays, flights, furniture and other expenses.

The report named three NFL agents and three financial advisers who Yahoo! Sports said engaged in transactions totaling at least $45,550 with Davis between September 2011 and December 2012.

Yahoo! said records show Davis distributing at least $12,700 in cash, airfare and other expenses to the five players. The report included a 49-item invoice totaling $33,755 from February 2013 that Davis emailed to Fluker's onetime financial adviser, Hodge Brahmbhatt.

Agents Andy Simms, Peter Schaffer and John Phillips and financial adviser Mike Rowan each confirmed giving money to Davis, according to Yahoo!, but said they didn't instruct the former player to provide benefits to players, and didn't know of him doing so.

Yahoo! Sports said financial advisers Jason Jernigan and Brahmbhatt declined comment.

Phillips told AL.com that he hasn't read the report, but says he knows it's "filled with falsehoods."

Documents obtained by Yahoo! Sports also show current Alabama defensive end Ed Stinson, whose name appears as "E. Stinson," on a flight itinerary from Nashville, Tenn., though agent Isaac Conner said Stinson did not make the flight. Stinson, a starter on the defense, practiced Wednesday.

A second Yahoo! Sports report alleges that former Alabama safety Mark Barron accepted money while he was recovering from a shoulder injury as a junior in 2011 that kept him from declaring for the NFL draft. Text messages obtained by the website show that Barron was asked to repay money after signing with a competing sports agency.

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Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

If you can't beat 'em, disqualify 'em.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

No, please don't torture us.
If JD Flucker kills an Alabama BCS championship to vacate victories, that means that NOTRE DAME wins the BCS?

I would laugh and puke except that's a joke that isn't even funny.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

What about the previous year... does that invalidate the game against LSU too?

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

LSU and its fans wouldn't want to back into a BCS title, so if that happened it would be a number in a record book that nobody wants.

Notre Dame on the other hand would celebrate like it's January 2013 all over again.

What a joke!

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Nick Saban Walks Out Of Press Conference Over D.J. Fluker Questions

This Saban presser, on the heels of the Yahoo report that former offensive standout D.J. Fluker was funneling cash into the Alabama program, is a thing of beauty. It's very Belichickian in it's format: boring we-had-a-good-week-of-practice-blah-blah beginning followed by a preemptive statement of nothingness signaling the final comment on the matter. But the execution is all Saban.

The fun begins around the 3:30 mark; it's a steady, though quick burn for Saban. He tells reporters three times he won't answer their questions and then, growing more agitated and full-throated, asks if they all want to get in a line and ask the same question that he won't answer. His final offer: "If you want to talk about the Texas A&M game, I'll be glad to talk about it."

When no one bit, Saban muttered "Appreciate your interest in the game" and walked off.


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Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

He's the HIGHEST PAID Coach in America.... PERIOD.
When Bama wins BCS, he's first in line to lift the Crystal Football.
When players succeed, he is first credited with their success.

But when tough questions arise, he's "just a coach" and doesn't "read those things." He's the head of football operations for the love of Zooey!! Who else would answer these questions?

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

I honestly don't expect anything significant will result of these allegations.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

I agree, if he's a go-between, is there or will there be a paper trail?
Sounds like it's the word of a sports agent against the players.
Where's the proof?

Sadly, until something concrete comes out, they'll drag the name of the players through the mud, as well as Bama, until something does or does not turn up.

If no evidence is found, that fact will show up on the last page of the sports section.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

IDK, Fluker already admitted it before claiming his Twitter account was hacked ...

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/lh...flukerweet.jpg

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

WOW.... okay.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Could D.J. Fluker be Alabama's version of Reggie Bush?

http://imgick.al.com/home/bama-media...594-mmmain.jpg

One’s a massive offensive tackle. The other’s a shifty running back. At first glance, D.J. Fluker and Reggie Bush have little in common. Or they had until Yahoo! Sports released its latest expose on the flourishing underground economy of major college football.

That story raises the disturbing possibility that Fluker could be to Alabama what Bush was to USC.

A player who helped win a national title and then helped lose it because he couldn’t wait until he left school to get paid.

According to the Yahoo! Sports story released Wednesday, former Alabama football player Luther Davis, acting as a middleman for agents and advisers in search of clients, provided extra benefits to five SEC football players.

One of them: Fluker, who finished his college career in January’s BCS Championship Game victory over Notre Dame and in April became a first-round NFL draft pick. The other players were from Mississippi State and Tennessee.

The story says that financial and text message records Yahoo! Sports obtained that belong to Davis “show agents and financial advisers moved at least $45,550 to Davis between September 2011 and December 2012” and that Davis moved “at least $12,700 in cash, airfare, living expenses or other receipts ... to the five players.”

It’s impossible to read the allegations and not flash back to April, when the following message appeared on Fluker's Twitter account: “Yea I took $ n college so wat. I did wat I had to do. Agents was tryin to pimp me so I pimped them. Cast da 1st stone.”

The curious explanation at the time from Fluker’s agent was that someone had hacked his account. The Yahoo! Sports story suggests the tweet may have been an admission of guilt.

As damning as the documents implicating Fluker appear to be, it’s a long way from a well-documented piece of investigative journalism to an NCAA investigation, hearing and ruling, let alone a BCS decision to strip a school of a crystal football.

It happened to USC because the NCAA believed Bush and his family received plenty of extra benefits during his college days and an assistant coach knew about some of the gifts from sports marketing agents who wanted to sign Bush as a client.

Even if Fluker did accept extra benefits before or during the 2012 season and there are documents to prove it, neither he nor Davis can be forced to talk to the NCAA. Even if the documents are enough to satisfy the NCAA that violations occurred, was there any reason for Alabama to know it or suspect it?

There’s one more parallel between the Fluker story and the Bush story. Yahoo! Sports also broke the story about the relationship between Bush and the marketing agents that led to the NCAA probe and the loss of the 2004 BCS title and Bush’s Heisman Trophy.

Could D.J. Fluker be Alabama's version of Reggie Bush? (Kevin Scarbinsky) | al.com

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

DJ Fluker Scandal: Perspective on the Alabama situation


Alabama fans and all of college football are focused on the DJ Fluker illegal benefits story. Here is the latest information on the DJ Fluker allegations.

Alabama football player DJ Fluker allegedly accepted cash and other benefits from an agent, according to a new report.
First, the University of Alabama knew of the DJ Fluker situation prior to Yahoo Sports asking for comment on the story. According to Alabama’s statement on the DJ Fluker allegations, the university’s compliance was already on the case.
Second, Alabama has a much more professional staff running things now than just a few years ago. Anyone who was around during the time prior to 2007 remembers the constant leaks coming not only from the athletic department but also from the general administration. It makes it much harder to know what is going on, but it does illustrate how much better the entire operation is today thanks to Dr. Witt and Nick Saban.
That said, I reached out to a source familiar with coaching in the SEC, and was told that there is concern about the personalities involved in this story.
Third, Yahoo’s Pat Forde is obviously upset he is no longer with ESPN. His shot at ESPN and sensationalist attack on Nick Saban amount to journalistic malpractice. Forde’s piece on Saban is laughable in its attempt to tie Saban’s press conference attitude to a concern about the story. This is not exactly news, but Saban is somewhat irritable any day of the week and even more so before a big game. Forde’s anger at ESPN reveals a deeply envious reporter that cannot let go his anger at a previous employer. Forde’s column was an overreach that tainted the entire Yahoo editorial process.
Fourth, any Alabama fan that frequents al.com or listens to WJOX’s local morning programming should know they are helping enemies of the program. If the morning crew did anything but deliver Auburn talking points, it might be worth tuning in; however, now, Alabama fans should cease putting dollars into the pockets of people with an anti-Alabama agenda. Be smart consumers.
Lastly, Alabama fans must remember that, as of yet, there are no allegations of institutional misconduct. Furthermore, there are no indications the information used in the Yahoo report will be provided to the University or the NCAA by the “source.” This element will bear further watching as Alabama and the SEC investigate.

Read more at DJ Fluker Scandal: Perspective on the Alabama situation | Capstone Report

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Somebody in a heap of trouble.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Signs of life, not of intelligence.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Sorry Danno, lol.

http://blackandgold.com/attachment.p...1&d=1379364072

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Great. Again? Here in lies the problem with treating these guys like they are gods gifts to the world.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Aren't we all God's gift to this world?

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Will the RATS leave the ship.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Not quite following that one.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Wow, could you imagine the players he could recruit based in Texas?

He wouldn't have to travel very far at all to assemble the best talent in NCAA football.

Re: Bama in trouble with NCAA?
 

Isn't he already recruiting Texas? Guess that's why Mack Brown is in so much trouble.