This is disappointing on so many levels. It isn’t hard to understand the motivations for this kind of action, especially by 19 year old kids. Simeon watched a large portion of his teammates and coach move on to USF and getting some form of payment, and under the new coach and with a terrible win loss record it is easy to think it doesn’t matter. The saddest part about this is that a federal indictment (justly deserved if the facts are accurate) could ruin his future as well. $40,000 dollars seems like a lot to a young kid watching his friends get paid, and it could very well ruin his goals and dreams going forward.
I would like to know if any coaches knew about his effort to recruit other teammates. If so this could get worse for the program and our athletics department.
On the competitive side, it does make you ask if some of his slow starts this winter were just a part of a player going cold or this scheme as well. Also, without Simeon I don’t see us winning many more games this season. This could turn into a dark and overcast kind of season.
