George Dohrmann has been on fire

George Dohrmann is single-handedly cleaning up college athletics.

Well, that might be an exaggeration, but if that's his goal he is well on his way.

Yesterday, Dohrmann's article on agents in college football hit the intrawebs and immediately made waves, clogging my twitter feed for a solid two hours. The article (which is required reading, by the way) essentially exposes what the interaction between players and agents is actually like, and how deeply rooted the issue is.

That article came out one week after his book, Play Their Hearts Out, was released. (Ed. Note: We will have more on the book once we finish it. We're currently half way through.) Play Their Hearts Out is the story of Joe Keller, an AAU coach from Southern California, and how he uses his players, specifically Demetrius Walker who was considered the best 12 year old in the country, for profit. Its a sickening and in-depth look into the world of grassroots basketball, but its not what we are here to discuss right now.

Dohrmann got deep into the youth basketball scene in LA, and Walker's story wasn't the only disturbing one he turned up. For starters, he highlighted a potential recruiting violation by Ohio State and CBS's lead color commentator Clark Kellogg:

Ohio State violated an NCAA rule pursuing Roberto [Nelson, now of Oregon State]: Former Ohio State player and CBS college basketball analyst Clark Kellogg called Bruce and lobbied on behalf of his alma mater. (As a former Ohio State player he was forbidden under NCAA guidelines from contacting recruits or their families.) "I heard that the missing piece to the puzzle was a kid in California," Kellogg told Bruce [Roberto's father].

That wasn't the only violation that Dohrmann exposed. He also caught UCLA head coach Ben Howland:

In certain months, coaches are allowed to call a recruit or his family only once. In one of these months, and after a UCLA coach had already spoken to Roberto, Howland called Bruce. "I didn't know it was him until I answered the phone because the number had a Santa Barbara area code," Bruce said. "Ben said he was up in Santa Barbara visiting people, and we talked about maybe getting together while he was in town." Howland had never called Bruce from a Santa Barbara number before. "I guess he knew that if used his UCLA phone, then people could find out he called me."

Neither of those allegations are going to get the NCAA's attention. Even if the NCAA was able to prove them -- which would be quite difficult to do -- they are minor, and potentially innocent, enough that neither would be worth the NCAA's time.

Perhaps the most damning exposure came at the very end of the book. Walker originally committed to USC and Tim Floyd before he wound up at Arizona State. It got so far that Walker was scheduled to sign a Letter of Intent to USC after his junior year. Quoted from the book:

"So what is that I am hearing about ou needing time to make a decison?" [Floyd] said to Demetrius.

"Well, I couldn't sleep last night, Coach, I was tossing and turning, and my gut feeling was that it just wouldn't be right to sign right now. I need some time to think."

"You've been committed to us for months," Floyd said. "Why are you having these feelings now?"

"I don't know, Coach. I don't know why I am having these funny feelings, but it's how I feel."

"I don't really have time for this," Floyd said. "There are other guys out there we can recruit. I don't have time to be waiting around for you."

"Well, that's your choice. I don't want you to sign anyone else right now. I'd like you to wait like two days, just give me some time to think."

Floyd accused Demetrius of wanting to look at other schools. Demetrius denied it, and then the conversation deteriorated.

"I see what kind of person you are," Floyd said. "You are a liar and you are not a man of your word. … I thought you were a player like OJ Mayo and DeMar DeRozan, not afraid of coming in and competing for a spot, but you'd rather be given a position instead of earning one."

"Coach, I'm not afraid of anybody."

"I'll tell you this: If any NBA teams interested in you come talk to me first, I am going to tell them who the real Demetrius Walker is."

Remember, that is Tim Floyd talking to a 17 year old kid. Kinda got a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach? Yeah, me too.

Maybe that's why things like this and this and this have been written about Tim Floyd over the years.