leggo his ego

“In our program, the truth is the basis of all that we do. There is nothing more important than the truth because there’s nothing more powerful than the truth. Consequently, on our team, we always tell one another the truth. We must be honest with one another. There is no other way.”  Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Duke and the NCAA are investigating whether an NCAA recruiting rule was violated when coach Mike Krzyzewski reportedly offered a scholarship to a recruit during a summer tournament.

The scholarship offer to five-star prospect Alex Poythress came on Tuesday night, after Poythress’ AAU team was eliminated from the AAU Super Showcase in Orlando, Fla.

Poythress confirmed the offer to CBSSports.com on Thursday, and said he spoke to Krzyzewski when he received the offer.

“It felt pretty good,” Poythress said of the offer. “It was pretty exciting to talk to Coach K. He said he saw me play at the Super Showcase and Peach Jam, and he liked what he saw.”

NCAA rules prevent coaches from contacting players before they are finished playing in tournaments. While the Georgia Stars were indeed eliminated from the Super Showcase, they were still in Orlando for the AAU Nationals. Players have to be dispersed from the team in order for a coach to talk to them.

On Sunday, Duke responded via spokesman Jon Jackson. “Proper adherence to NCAA bylaws has always been, and will continue to be, a cornerstone of Duke athletics,” the statement said.

Poythress is a 6-foot-7 forward from Northeast (Tenn). He is ranked No. 15 in CBSSports.com’s Top 100.

I don’t think Poythress is not starting out on the right foot by telling the truth about his recruiting timeline. God willing, Maybe Coach K can berate his mother for not putting program first (see William Avery).

However, if Alex can partially replace Kyle Singler’s productivity in a couple of years, all will be good in the Krzyzewsk Kingdom.

CBB recruiting violation season! Catch the fever.  Although, I’ll take a (NCAA Pres) Mark Emmert press conference over watching UCONN/Butler play ‘basketball’ any day.