The coaches' ethics committee has no legislative power, no ability to directly change the way coaches do their jobs.
But its members are hoping they'll have some sort of influence.
In its first serious conference call tackling issues that arose over the summer, the ethics committee focused on a few hot-button items in the hope it can influence some legislation or behavior going forward.
"We are not an extension of the enforcement staff," said committee chair John Beilein, head coach of Michigan. "But we're trying to communicate the problems and make strong suggestions."
Joining Beilein on the ethics committee are: Boston College's Al Skinner (ACC); Oklahoma's Jeff Capel (Big 12); Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings (SEC); Pitt's Jamie Dixon (Big East); Stanford's Johnny Dawkins (Pac-10); Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli (A-10); former South Carolina and Wake Forest coach Dave Odom (an emeritus-type position); Butler's Brad Stevens (Horizon); Tulsa's Doug Wojcik (Conference USA); UC Davis' Gary Stewart (Big West); Detroit assistant Derek Thomas (assistant rep); St. John's assistant Fred Quartlebaum (assistant rep); and Reggie Minton, associate director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. All but Stallings, Dixon and Quartlebaum were on the call.
One of the first agenda items was tickets for conference tournaments. The committee wanted to make sure no coaches felt any pressure to distribute the allotment of tickets for coaches to AAU coaches. Tickets that Beilein would receive for the Big Ten tournament should be used for his family and friends, not handed out to summer league coaches as payback for helping Michigan get a player.
"You can't gift those tickets," Beilein said. "Those tickets should be off limits."
The cost of summer packets for tournaments was also a major issue. A number of the tournaments across the country, notably in Las Vegas, tie admission for coaches to paying for a booklet of names and numbers of the players in the event. The cost of those booklets can range well into the hundreds of dollars. Admission for the general public can be as little as $10. The AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, Fla., in July chose not to charge coaches for its packets. Organizers of more independent events have argued over the summer that they need to charge to cover the overhead of expenses (rental of facility, officials, insurance, trainers, etc.).
Beilein said the committee wants to have the certification process for these tournaments include some sort of consistency in payments. The other problem for coaches was not getting advance knowledge of how much the booklets would cost. Coaches would arrive and be expected to produce cash to gain admittance into some of these events.
Beilein said the way elite camps are run also needs to be governed. Beilein said Michigan ran an elite camp and only the Wolverines' staff worked the camp, not AAU or high school or any other summer league coaches. He said his goal in running the elite camp was to show what a college practice would be like for the players. He said the elite camp fee was $40 for day campers, with about 50-60 attending.
"There is a concern that the mission of the elite camp is lost," Beilein said. "If the camp is 20 or 40 dollars you shouldn't be leaving with $100 worth of gear. There shouldn't be high school or AAU coaches working the event. You can't compromise these events."
Elite camps have been used of late to produce unofficial visits for recruits. Beilein said that the unofficial visits are allowed only before and after the camp, not during the camp -- a point that Beilein said can be reinforced.
Beilein said the inconsistencies of contact/evaluation periods from the spring to the summer to the fall need to be readdressed so coaches know when the changes occur.
"We need to prepare them so they're not faced with ethical dilemmas," Beilein said.
How all this information from the meeting is disseminated is still unknown. The ethics committee is attempting to get the information out through the NABC.
• Time to temper the enthusiasm a bit for a pair of Australians.
Well, at least that's the spin coming out of the West Coast. Australian Brock Motum came highly touted to Washington State. The 6-9 freshman out of the famed Australian Institute of Sport was expected to be an impact player for the Cougars. He still may get there, but WSU coach Ken Bone wants to scale back the expectations. Bone has no issue with Motum's work ethic. He has listened well and wants to get better. But his lack of foot speed and athleticism, as well as strength, needs to improve. So, too, does his range on his shot.
Meanwhile, the West Coast Conference was ready to pump up Saint Mary's freshman Matthew Dellavedova as the next Patty Mills. But the Australian combo guard is hardly in the Mills category yet. SMC coach Randy Bennett was quick to point out that Dellavedova isn't Mills and may not ever be. Sure, Dellavedova (along with Motum) played on the Australian national team at the under-19 world championships this past summer. Yes, they were both productive. But Dellavedova isn't ready to be handed a starting job for the Gaels yet. Bennett wants to temper the enthusiasm for his newcomer until he can get into a groove at Saint Mary's. He'll be in the top-seven rotation, but isn't being handed anything yet.
• Bone said forward DeAngelo Casto is still a month away from joining the Cougars on the court. The sophomore had surgery to repair torn ligaments following the U.S. gold-medal victory at the world championships in New Zealand.
Andy Katz
