It looks like some schools, and Adidas, are going to be getting into a ton of trouble. The other day it was reported, by the FBI, that they have found a ton of money being funneled from AAU basketball all the way up to the NCAA. The main shoe company that was put on notice is Adidas. I'm sure some other shoe companies are involved, but the one with the biggest paper trail is Adidas, and most of the schools that have put assistants and head coaches on unpaid leave, are represented by Adidas. I have some thoughts on this whole ordeal.

First off, the fact that the FBI is involved means that this is some serious stuff. I've seen the NCAA try to dole out their fake punishments, i.e, small sanctions, taking recruiting away, missing one or two years of the tournament, but that isn't going to fly with the FBI. If the FBI is involved, that means some people may be going to jail. Some big name people may be going to court, then possibly jail. This is very, very serious, and there is a ton of money involved. When the FBI gets into a case, I have to imagine that it is millions upon millions of dollars. This is crazy. I cannot believe this is what is going to possibly be the death knell to some NCAA basketball programs. There has been a lot more shady shit that has happened, stuff like hookers, strippers, buying cars and homes for families of recruits, grade tampering, any number of immoral things, but it looks like the scourge that is AAU basketball will be what takes them down.

Which leads me to my second thought. AAU basketball is the worst of the worst when it comes to shady characters being around young kids and telling them that they will do great tings if they sign with them. These "boosters" and "agents" and "recruiting gurus" for AAU teams are the lowest of the low. They find some young kid, usually around 13 or 14, and they don't see a kid playing a sport, they see a brand. They think these kids can make them millionaires. They don't care about these kids or their families, they just want to make money off of them. It is sickening. Then with these kids, if they don't make it, these scumbags just disappear and move on to the next kid. And that first kid, who these guys give up on, still feels entitled and tries to move on to the next "agent" or whatever that can try and give them big things. It is so seedy and shady and corrupt. AAU basketball is as corrupt as FIFA. Yeah, I said it. These kids are not basketball players to these AAU programs anymore. Like I said before, they are brands. For the most part, the kids don't even get to pick which AAU team they want to play for. Either their parents or one of the scumbags I have talked about pick a team for them based upon what shoe company they are beholden to. It is gross. The kids sometimes have to move to a new state or a new county just so these AAU assholes can deck them out in Adidas gear. It is sickening. I remember when I was younger I tried out for an AAU team. I made it to final cut down day, but what I saw, as a 14 year old, made me feel sick. I didn't feel like a basketball player, I felt like a piece of meat. All these creeps hanging out on the sidelines that weren't coaches, just trying to figure out which one of us they could use as a marketing tool. That was over 20 years ago. I have to imagine that it has only gotten worse. I even watched a documentary on Netflix a month or so back called "At All Costs", and it was about the current AAU culture and parents that live vicariously through their kids. It was disheartening. These kids, these 14, 15 and 16 year old kids, already seemed like they were working full time jobs as basketball players, and the ones in this movie, seemed to be fed up already. Sports are supposed to be fun, but the people that run AAU and other things of that nature, have turned it into a job and a show. It is disgusting. I loathe the entire idea of what AAU basketball has become.

Which leads me to my next thought. Why is anyone at all surprised that Rick Pitino is right in the middle of this? He is a garbage person, and he is one of the biggest cheaters in all of NCAA basketball. The guy is a scumbag. He looks like a used car salesman. He hires strippers and hookers for recruits. He has done awful, reprehensible things to get kids to come to whatever school he is coaching at the time. So I say again, why are people shocked by his inclusion? Of course he is involved. Of course he is a major player in the whole pay for play feeder programs. Of course he is making deals with Adidas and people who have an Adidas sponsor in AAU. It makes too much sense. For him to come out and say that he had nothing to do with this is a bold face lie. He is justly going to get fired, finally. Rick Pitino is as big a scumbag as the "agents" and "boosters" I mentioned.

My final thought, don't let this news make you think that Sonny Vacaro is some kind of good guy. He was the one who started the whole shoe war with children. Hell, ESPN made a "30 For 30" about that single topic. Don't let Sonny Vacaro on any show to be a talking head about this situation because he is the godfather of all this. He started it all. It all comes back to him. He is just as slimy and creepy and crummy as Rick Pitino and the "boosters". AAU and NCAA basketball are complicit and a joke.

What is most surprising to me is how unsurprised I was when this story broke a few days ago. The NCAA has always been shady, and so has AAU basketball. It is all gross and disgusting. Why don't we just let kids be kids and let them play the game of basketball with joy as opposed to being a product of some dumb ass shill for shoe companies. What a joke.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. He was almost the 14 year old poster child for KangaROOS shoes. 

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