It feels like everyday we hear stories that severely blemish the romance of college sports. Even now, when college basketball’s best step is forward with a Final Four made up of storied programs and new ones, we’re still reminded that the NCAA is broken. As Kemba Walker looks to lead Connecticut on their tear through the brackets, we temporarily forget about Walker’s former roommate and one-time Connecticut prized recruit Nate Miles.
Miles is 23 now, has two sons from two different women and is basically homeless, moving from couch to couch in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio. He never played one second at UCONN as he was expelled from school for breaking a restraining order. He was also part of the 3-game suspension that Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun will serve next season. Miles was taking payments from people connected to the UCONN coaching staff. During the initial investigation, Miles didn’t talk, now he says he’s ready to clear the air about the situation and argue that Coach Calhoun knew what was going on.
This week, The New York Times reported that the NCAA has already visited Miles’ grandmother’s house and they are taking any new information very seriously. The same report also offered a snapshot into the ugly underbelly of college basketball and the whole process which is starting earlier and earlier:
In two interviews in Toledo, Miles offered a window into major college sports. He said he went to six high schools in five years before heading to Connecticut. At one point in high school, he said, he got $250 every three days from anN.B.A. agent that he said a former UConn assistant coach introduced him to. He said he received improper help on at least two of the standardized tests he took to qualify academically to play in college, but for all that he never played a game for Connecticut, or any other Division I university.
Read the New York Times article for more on the Nate Miles story.
