Calhoun, Calipari absorb new hits

HOUSTON -- The night before the Final Four is like Christmas Eve for basketball coaches, but before Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and Kentucky's John Calipari could renew their rivalry in the national semifinals Saturday night, each received a pile of coal in their stockings. It came in the form of news reports about potential recruiting violations at both schools.

Calhoun and his program were hit with recruiting sanctions earlier this year, and Calipari's two previous Final Four appearances with Massachusetts in 1996 and with Memphis in 2008 were "vacated" by the NCAA for recruiting violations after losses in the title game.

Throughout a long coaching career at Northeastern and UConn in which he has sent dozens of players to the NBA, Calhoun avoided NCAA sanctions. But in February, the NCAA placed Connecticut on probation, limited its number of basketball scholarships and suspended Calhoun for three games next season for violations related to the recruitment of Nate Miles, who never played college basketball.

Miles did not cooperate with NCAA investigators, but he spoke to The New York Times for an article published Friday night in which he charged Calhoun with lying about the extent of his knowledge regarding the violations. Miles also said he now is willing to talk to the NCAA, and a spokesman for the governing body said it might contact Miles to determine if there is cause to reopen the case.

According to the Times story, Miles said he received payments totaling $750 per week from an NBA agent who once was a UConn basketball manager, that a former UConn assistant coach introduced him to the agent and that he received assistance with his SATs. Asked if Calhoun was aware of the payments, Miles was quoted saying, "He knew." Miles, whose credibility previously has been questioned, also said several statements made by Calhoun to NCAA investigators were "lies."

Earlier Friday, Calhoun was asked about previous comments Miles made about the coach knowing details of his relationship with the NBA agent. Calhoun stood by previous statements he issued, and that he "accepted all responsibility as head coach" for the sanctions.

"I know who I am, what I am, and I'm very comfortable with that," Calhoun said. "I'm comfortable with my university, how they handled it, how the NCAA handled it. I didn't say I agreed with everything, but I was in charge of the program and the program made mistakes."

Calipari never was directly implicated in recruiting sanctions at his previous schools, but he left the impression of having gotten out of town ahead of the posse. Now, a FoxSports.com report says Bilal Batley, who resigned as director of basketball operations at Kentucky in 2009 after participating in a workout with a player, made "repeated impermissible telephone calls while at Memphis and Kentucky to recruits, such as DeMarcus Cousins and their parents."

Calipari refused FoxSports.com's request for comment. Earlier Friday, Calipari was asked about his two "vacated" Final Four appearances. "I don't deal with that," he said.