Alabama's Marcell Dareus Says Blake Steered Him Towards Wichard
by T.H. on Oct 4, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
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PrintHope you enjoyed the football victory, because it's Monday now and we're back to allegations of impropriety. Today's hit comes from sources telling both ESPN and Yahoo! that Marcell Dareus told the NCAA that Blake recommended Wichard to both himself and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders over the summer.
On reflection, however, I almost consider this good news. There report says nothing about Blake funneling money to either player – Dareus sat out two games for receiving a calculated $1,787 in benefits on a trip to a Miami party – and the fact Blake was touting Wichard to players at other schools backs up the idea that Blake was just out of control and not that the problem was the entire UNC program. Of course, the fact that Blake was pulling this with players at other schools and word still never got back to Davis is a little suspect, as well.
An yes, eagle-eyed readers will note that Dareus was on the hook for more benefits than either Kendric Burney or Deunta Williams, and yet was given a lighter suspension than either UNC player. I'll refrain from drawing any conclusions about the NCAA enforcement bureau in this space.
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Money from Marvin
The general feeling around Alabama boards for the past 6 weeks has been that Dareus accepted an invitation from Austin and thought Austin was paying for everything out of his own pocket. In that scenario, the thinking goes that Dareus discovered the connection to an agent, headed home, and immediately confessed everything to UA officials. Maybe, maybe not, but the NCAA would look more leniently on a player in those conditions if they found his story plausible.
1 trip, ostensibly paid for by a friend, versus 5 combined trips of unknown provenance. Again – if true.
More disturbingly, if true, that narrative strongly suggests Austin was performing as a runner himself for Blake/Wichard. Austin presumably is telling state investigators what he did and where he got the money for it, so hopefully there’s a plausible (relatively innocent) explanation for all these dots — because the line they currently suggest looks like a blood bath for UNC.
And if you think this is good for UNC, then ask yourself how you would see things if Chris Collins had an NBA agent bankroll and documented contacts with Trey Thompkins and Willy Buford, with Singler and Plumlee in the mix as well?
I don’t share your optimism. I’m sorry to seem so contrary, but I’m just livid right now.
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