mbaprof 
Senior
Posts: 345
Age: 67
Reg: 12-24-11
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07-11-19 12:19 PM - Post#285751
Major expose on jerome allen, says ira was getting paid
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Streamers
Professor
Posts: 8237
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
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Re: We made sports illustrated
07-11-19 01:37 PM - Post#285755
In response to mbaprof
Here is the link
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Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
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07-12-19 12:59 AM - Post#285781
In response to Streamers
The article made the Bowman part sound a bit worse. Previously, it was described as a few gift cards. It wasn't clear that they were significant.
It also raises further (but doesn't prove) whether Morris was aware of the shenanigans. It's possible he knew about the SAT scam, probable that he knew his relationship with the coach was very unusual, and almost definite that he knew his talent was not at all Div I worthy.
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Jeff2sf
Postdoc
Posts: 4466
Reg: 11-22-04
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07-12-19 06:53 AM - Post#285783
In response to Penndemonium
I come at it from a different perspective (and I do want to acknowledge that I shouldn't infantilize a 17 year old):
1. What will convince me, and pretty much the only thing that will convince me, is that there was definitive conclusion that the SAT score was manipulated and a reasonable conclusion (less burden of proof) that Morris knew that. In the Varsity Blues scandal it seemed like the SAT manipulations ranged from a person sitting with the kid and answering questions over the kid's shoulder to a proctor adjusting things after the kid was out the door.
2. The list is very long of people who think their basketball talent is higher than it is. If he was so sure he was terrible, his father probably would have called it a day at Morris getting admitted. Going through all the trouble of looping Bowman in to make sure he made the team is unlikely unless you have a kid who is so spoiled as to make that demand yet somehow also very self aware to know he needs the thumb on the scale.
3. I would imagine that for a 17 year old, the byzantine rules about the NCAA are not very clear. Complicating that is that your dad is saying it's okay. Throw in a dose of "things that we find unusual aren't that unusual to rich kids" and I find it entirely likely that he wouldn't realize something was amiss.
Could Morris have known? Yes! I guess my view is that this was a pretty victimless crime (the crime was we let some rich kid in who could obviously do the work vs some other rich kid). I am fine with an investigation but I think opportunities for definitive proof will be lacking and where some people want to extend the benefit of the doubt, others do not. I feel sorry for the kid - his dad is arrested, his name has been disgraced. Others do not.
And I also have a "well what the hell did you expect to happen with this dumb azz policy which by the way deprives me of better basketball through scholarships"? Which is victim blaming but who's the victim? Penn. snort.
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penn nation
Professor
Posts: 21193
Reg: 12-02-04
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07-13-19 11:25 PM - Post#285848
In response to Jeff2sf
Just got my SI--surprised at the length of this piece...it was just about as long as the piece on the US Women's World Cup team.
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4911
Reg: 02-04-06
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07-15-19 02:11 PM - Post#285911
In response to penn nation
At the very end of the article it sounds like Esformes could have avoided Allen’s testimony if he’d just kept paying him.
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palestra38
Professor
Posts: 32812
Reg: 11-21-04
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07-15-19 04:17 PM - Post#285915
In response to SRP
Yes, it does. And it makes the entire narrative of being contrite and betraying his moral standards a joke. But the Court apparently bought it hook line and sinker. With his higher Celtics salary, Jerome will walk away better financially and without a day in jail.
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Jeff2sf
Postdoc
Posts: 4466
Reg: 11-22-04
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07-15-19 04:37 PM - Post#285918
In response to palestra38
eh, i dunno, i didn't take it that way. I think it just was his state of mind about how he felt hurt. He would have rolled on the guy anyway. Like, if he went unsolicited to the feds and said "I've been taking bribes from Esformes", then I might have wanted to look pretty charitably on this assuming it was because the guilt was eating him up and then we'd find out it was because he was wronged and that narrative goes out the window.
Instead, he was approached by the feds and at some point, presumably when he realized how much trouble he was in, he rolled. Which is a much less romantic version of his role but however you viewed him before this article, no need to change how you feel.
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palestra38
Professor
Posts: 32812
Reg: 11-21-04
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07-15-19 04:45 PM - Post#285920
In response to Jeff2sf
I agree, but the narrative of his testimony at trial was self-flagellation at what he had done, and the admission that he felt betrayed at having his bribe money cut off runs against that theme. You are correct though---he only testified to save his own behind after the Feds had him dead to rights
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Jeff2sf
Postdoc
Posts: 4466
Reg: 11-22-04
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07-16-19 09:54 AM - Post#285940
In response to palestra38
ok, i see what you mean. I wonder if that's his narrative or the prosecution's narrative in terms of how they wanted to present him but now I'm completely in your jurisdiction, so I defer.
I kinda like the idea of a black man getting a lenient sentence for some white people stuff (Ivy League admissions = white people stuff) and not having it wreck his career.
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rbg
Postdoc
Posts: 3052
Reg: 10-20-14
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07-16-19 11:49 AM - Post#285948
In response to Jeff2sf
I would agree that you are both correct with regards to Allen's behavior to the feds and the court.
Judging from the comments and actions from the Celtics, it would seem that they bought it as well.
I can empathize with Allen's difficult upbringing and the long-term effects on his psyche. I can also empathize and sympathize with the personal and familial financial pressures he has had over the years and in the early 2010s. However, at the time this started, he was making a very good salary and was working for a group of people (most notably Steve Bilsky?) that supported him.
He not only violated the law and the trust of his family, but he violated the trust of his school and the department that supported him for most of the previous 20+ years. He also put Ira Bowman's career at risk, as well as the athletic careers of 4 players on his team.
While I will agree that those that say he is a very good person and has done a lot of good for his friends & communities, his actions over those few years showed some serious legal and moral failings that put many of his family members, closest friends, players, co-workers and school at risk.
As I noted in a different thread, I felt that the judge should have went with the prosectors recommendation of 4 months in jail, but it is what it is. I am fine with Penn removing him from the Hall of Fame, since it seems that the school values an athlete or coach's off the field career, as well as their on the field performance.
I am ok with him keeping his job with the Celtics, I just wished that they had given him a greater penalty and words of condemnation instead of the superficial punishment and praise for his responsible actions after he got caught.
If Jerome ever wants to get back into college coaching, as an asssitant or head coach, I would hope that an AD would look at his actions more seriously than the C's and the NBA did.
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