BY TOM MARTIN
You're watching multisource sports video news analysis from Newsy.
It sounds like a movie plot -- a fraud investigation, a suicide, and millions of dollars gone missing.
On Sunday, Houston-area investment adviser David Salinas was found dead of apparent suicide -- and the case took off from there.
“The NCAA is investigating the relationships between the late David Salinas and a number of current and former college basketball coaches and players.”
“...Salinas had become the subject of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, who are looking into some possible fraud that might have cost Olson and other NCAA coaches millions of dollars.”
“Olson” refers to former Arizona coach Lute Olson, one of many current and former college coaches who reportedly trusted Salinas with handling bonds. Now, nobody has a clue where those bonds are.
According to reports, Texas Tech coach and client Billy
Gillispie could be hit the hardest -- if the bonds aren’t recovered, he’ll be out $2.3 million. CBS Sports quotes two anonymous college coaches who are
suddenly worried for their wallets:
One says...
“A lot of coaches got (expletive)... It’s bad...”
And the other adds...
“We’re not concerned about the NCAA right now. We’re just scared we got Madoffed.”
Money aside -- what could bring the NCAA into this fiasco? The Houston Chronicle’s Jerome Solomon writes,
it’s because of Salinas’ side project: an AAU basketball program called Houston Select:
“... How could college coaches think it is OK to invest money with a person who operates one of the top summer league programs in the state? … You can't buy an athlete-student an extra hamburger on a recruiting visit, but you can give his AAU coach a few hundred thousand dollars to invest on your behalf? That's asking for trouble."
The NCAA has pounced on recruiting violations for years.
Many players from Houston Select played for coaches on Salinas’ client list.
Analysts say just connect the dots -- if Salinas helped coaches with their money, he could have steered his players in the direction of those coaches.
But the NCAA will reportedly leave the case alone.
“... [The NCAA’s] bloodlust knows no bounds when it comes to making sure unpaid athletes remain unpaid, but when the supposed infractions are committed by the coaches, and only by the coaches, the NCAA decides it's not worth their time.”
The NCAA could still investigate at a later date, but in the meantime, coaches will have a bigger problem: recovering a combined $7.8 million in lost bonds.
Transcript by Newsy.
