Ex-Coach Admits to Taking Money to Steer Ben McLemore towards NBA Draft
By Josh Hill
A scandal seems to be brewing surrounding NBA Draft prospect Ben McLemore. USA Today reports that McLemore’s former AAU coach Darius Cobb admitted to taking payments for his part in persuading McLemore to leave the University of Kansas early and enter the 2013 NBA Draft. Cobb says that the CEO of Hooplife Academy Rodney Blackstock payed him two installments of $5,000 in order to get the Jayhawks star to declare for the draft and enter the pros.
This could be something that blows back on Kansas, as the NCAA has stricter than strict rules about players, family member and even former coaches accepting money on behalf of a player. Cobb says that in addition to the $5,000 payments, he was flown out to Los Angeles three times to meet with sports agents and financial advisers looking to represent McLemore if he decided — or was persuaded– to enter the NBA Draft early.
Further connection to McLemore is that his cousin Richard Boyd allegedly accompanied Cobb on two of the three trips to Los Angeles. Boyd denies that he went on these trips, but he admitted to USA Today that Rodney Blackstock had formed a close relationship with McLemore and his family in recent months. This is a claim supported by the fact that records show Blackstock received complimentary admittance to three Jayhawks games last season.
“He is cool,” McLemore’s cousin Richard Boyd said of Blackstock, via USA Today. “He has just given us some pointers. He has been in the business a while and has been overseas. But everything is Ben’s and his mom’s decisions.”
Cobb said that McLemore wasn’t aware that the AAU coach was receiving payments and also states that the relationship between McLemore and Blackstock was pre-existing, saying that Blackstock cultivated the relationship on his own.
McLemore is on his way to the NBA Draft after declaring on April 9th. But this is a story that may follow him into the pros and it wouldn’t be the first time a top prospect came out of poverty and was connected to a money scandal in some way. No evidence exists that suggests McLemore himself was given money by anyone, but that’s an accusation that unfortunately comes with the territory and is now something that will likely be asked of the Jayhawks star moving forward.