Francesa: College Basketball Corruption Allegations Are Not At All Shocking
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- No one should be surprised about the scandal rocking the world of college basketball, Mike Francesa says.
On Tuesday, prosecutors announced that 10 people, including assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, Southern California and Oklahoma State, have been arrested on federal corruption charges. The coaches are accused of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to steer college stars toward certain sports agents, financial advisers and shoe endorsement deals.
"We all know this system is corrupt," Francesa said at the start of his WFAN show Tuesday. "Every one of us knows it. Big money has permeated it and decayed it a long time ago. The competition is phenomenal for these players.
"You get a good player at 12, and you know what he is? He's property. He's money," Francesa added. "And somebody's going to make a buck on him sending him here, then somebody's going to make a buck on him sending him here, and somebody's going to make a buck on him sending him here, and they pass him along the line if he's good enough. And that's how this game is played, and it's an ugly game, and we all know it. And we watch the NCAA tournament and we have fun with it, and we don't care about what goes on underneath it, but the underneath part of this has been ugly for a long time."
Francesa said he spoke to one prominent college basketball coach not wrapped up in the scandal who said his phone had been wiretapped in the investigation. One coach told him the probe began after a Wall Street fund manager who was "pinched by the feds" tipped off authorities in exchange for a lighter sentence.
To listen to Francesa's monologue on the scandal, click on the audio player above.
