Sources: Blake recommended agent to Dareus
By Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
11 hours, 11 minutes ago
ShareretweetEmailPrintTUSCALOOSA, Ala. – University of Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus informed NCAA investigators that former University of North Carolina assistant coach John Blake recommended agent Gary Wichard to him in a phone conversation last summer, sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Blake and Wichard are currently at the center of NCAA and North Carolina Secretary of State probes, as investigators have sought to determine the depth of agent tampering in several college football programs. Yahoo! Sports reported last week that Blake and Wichard had engaged in multiple financial transactions during Blake’s tenure at UNC, and that Wichard’s agency – Pro Tect Management – was also listed on a July 2009 hotel receipt for suspended Tar Heels defensive lineman Marvin Austin.
John Blake Lawyers for Blake said any financial exchanges with Wichard were loans from a longtime friend, and denied Blake had endorsed Wichard to players in exchange for compensation. But two sources said Dareus told the NCAA that Blake endorsed Wichard, recommending the Crimson Tide star sign with the agent when he goes to the NFL.
Dareus, who was the defensive most valuable player in the 2010 BCS title game, was suspended by the NCAA for the first two games of this season for receiving improper benefits from agents during offseason trips to Miami. It was during that investigation, the sources said, that Dareus told NCAA investigators Blake had spoken to him about Wichard.
The sources said Dareus was extremely cooperative while describing his relationship with Blake to investigators, explaining that the former Tar Heels assistant recruited him while he was starring at Birmingham’s Huffman High School. The sources said Dareus told NCAA investigators that Blake had maintained contact with him since that recruitment, and that during the summer Blake called both Dareus and Dareus’ friend, South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, to suggest they sign with Wichard. Both Dareus and Saunders were considered potential first-round picks entering this season.
University of Alabama spokesman Jeff Purinton declined comment. One of Blake’s attorneys, Wade Smith, said he preferred to speak with his client before making any statements.
“It would be inappropriate to speak about it at this time,” Smith said.
If the NCAA determines that Blake was acting as a “runner” to deliver players to Wichard, the coach could be subject to bylaw 10.1, which determines unethical conduct of staff members. That bylaw bars the “receipt of benefits by an institutional staff member for facilitating or arranging a meeting between a student-athlete and an agent, financial advisor, or a representative of an agent or financial advisor.”
Alabama coach Nick Saban blasted the conduct of rogue agents over the summer, while Dareus was still under investigation by the NCAA.
“I don’t think it’s anything but greed that is creating [problems] right now on behalf of the agents,” Saban told reporters during the SEC’s media gathering in July. “Agents that do this, I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people, none. I mean, none. How would you feel if they did it to your child?”
Gary Wichard A message left at the University of South Carolina football offices was not returned. Saunders, who is also under NCAA scrutiny in the agent probe, was suspended indefinitely by Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier in August and then dismissed from the team in September. Spurrier refused to divulge the reason for those actions.
In August, Spurrier was asked to comment about a Yahoo! Sports story that had linked Blake and Wichard in a prior business relationship, including Blake’s previous position as vice president of football operations for Pro Tect Management.
“Let me just say this,” Spurrier told the (Columbia, S.C.) State. “When you’ve been in coaching as long as I have, we know the reputation of almost all the coaches out there that have been around a long time. So I guess what I would say is that the article’s not very surprising. That’s about the least I should say about it. We all have a reputation, especially guys who’ve coached 20 years or so. It’s hard to hide whatever your reputation is.”
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