Interesting interview w/Sonny Vaccaro

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The most interesting part of the article for me was Vaccaro accusing those of trying to keep kids going to college as "having an agenda." The truth is that everything Vaccaro does is based on an agenda. He doesn't care what happens to Jeremy Tyler or any other kid. For him, it's all about the attention and making a name for himself at the expense of impressionable kids and parents while patting himself on the back along the way.

Is it possible that Tyler is going to be a star? Sure, but I wouldn't put my money down on it. Vaccaro's reputation should proceed him in this case, seeing as how he helped found one of the nation's most corrupt youth athletics organizations in the AAU. It should therefore come as no surprise that he's in favor of kids not even staying in school. Eventually, he may even convince folks stop wasting their time on school altogether.

For him, its all about basketball and nothing else, regardless of his "home schooling" idea. Two things matter to Vaccaro: basketball and money, not necessarily in that order. It could actually be described this way: making lots of money because of basketball.

For him, everything else is secondary.
 

I feel like I need to take a shower just after reading quotes from Sonny V. I even had to check and make sure I still had my wallet. But then I guess we all just have our own agendas and can't all be pure at heart like Sonny.:clap:
 

Sonny raises some interesting points (just like Tarkanian did) about the hypocrisy of the NCAA but where he fails is that he feels no share of the blame. It was Sonny working for a revolving door of shoe companies that led to the mass injection of corporate dollars into the youth levels. And I'm not talking about a couple of sponsorship deals. I'm talking about tens of millions of dollars to find the next Jordan, the next great product hawker. He's one of the main creators of this atmosphere of branding, marketing and other such nonsense among the elite level high school prospects. He's Quint in Jaws throwing the chum in the water to attract the shark.
 

Vaccaro seems to think that the absense of the one and done's will hurt NCAA basketball. From a fan's perspective I don't think they contribute anything at all to the spectator portion of the sport. People don't follow the sport to see the next one year sensation. They follow it to see the development of players and teams as they progress through their college years. It is what differentiates it from professional basketball and what generates all the interest. You remember that Florida won two years in a row with players that stuck around. Do you even remember that Ohio State went to the finals with Conolly etc.. I personally prefer a program that avoids these players.
 


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