NCAA investigation, Canes' recruiting chatter
Long day Monday and I fully expect the rest of the week to be busy now that the NCAA appears ready to hand the University of Miami and others its notice of allegations any day now.
> Ultimately what I've come to understand through two sources is that the NCAA reached out verbally to the lawyers of the parties involved in the investigation last week (that includes schools where former assistants are now at) to let them know what they will be receiving in the coming week and to be prepared for it. All parties are expected to receive their notice of allegations via email sometime soon (UM should be in the same boat because this is how the process works). All parties then have 90 days to respond in writing to the NCAA before appearing at a hearing in front of the NCAA Infractions Committee in four to six months. So, as has been reported many times, we are far off from the punishment phase. You can look at it as the first half of this 22-month investigation being over.
> A source close to former UM recruiting coordinator and receivers coach Aubrey Hill told me Monday what what CBSSports.com first reported -- that Hill is expected to be cited for "unethical conduct," better known as a violation of Bylaw 10.1. Hill resigned at the University of Florida prior to the 2012 season and had far less interaction with Nevin Shapiro according to my source than Clint Hurtt. But both will reportedly face the music for not being as forthcoming as they should have been when being interviewed by the NCAA.
> A source told me two former UM assistants who are not expected to be hit hard by the NCAA are Alabama's Jeff Stoutland and Joe Pannunzio because they were honest and up front with investigators. Pannunzio is now the director of operations at Alabama; Stoutland the offensive line coach. What they could and most likely will face as punishment for driving recruits to see Shapiro are suspensions and fines, but not the dreaded 10.1. FYI, information on all coaches at non-private schools is public record. So eventually what all former assistants are facing will come out. UM, being a private school, does not have to share its NOA.
> Don't be surprised in the end if certain individuals who played big roles in the NCAA's investigation are not named in the report and do not face any charges. As we've mentioned in the past, some who cooperated with investigators are granted immunity. In some cases, as I was told by a source interviewed by the NCAA, people who broke rules may only end up being referenced in the report and not face charges.
> In the meantime, as the NCAA investigation continues to unfold, UM coach Al Golden and his staff are busy recruiting and preparing for National Signing Day. After it's big recruiting weekend UM picked up just one commitment -- from Nigerian-born JUCO defensive tackle Ufomba Kamalu. But another commitment could soon be on the way this week in Miramar outside linebacker Jermaine Grace.
The Rivals.com 4-star recruit visited Louisville this past weekend and was supposed to announce his college choice Tuesday morning, but Miramar coach Damon Cogdell told me yesterday Grace will now wait until Thursday or Friday. Cogdell said he was "working with TV" to have the announcement broadcast. Grace, who has long thought to be a Hurricanes lean, will choose between UM, Louisville and Tennessee.
"He likes them all," Cogdell told me on Monday of Grace's final three. "Louisville is coming off the win against Florida and talking national championship. UM is young, but loaded. Tennessee has a new coach. We're going to sit down tomorrow and figure it out."
I'm fairly confident Grace will elect to stay home. He is close friends with Hurricanes cornerback Tracy Howard, his former Miramar teammate and Miramar's coaches believe he can come in and help UM's defense right away.
> Although the mother of Port St. Lucie Centennial defensive lineman Jaynard Bostwick told Canesport.com Sunday her son's "heart is at The U" and that she thinks he'll end up there, his coach sounded a little less confident Monday it was a complete slam dunk.
"He has a trip to Florida this weekend or next weekend and then he'll make his decision," Centennial coach Ron Parker said. "I think he wants to wait until National Signing Day. I told him if you want to let the coach of the school know ahead of time, that's fine too. But he'll make the announcement on Signing Day. It's between Miami, Alabama and Florida."
Bostwick, 6-3, 305-pounds according to Parker, is the cousin of UM linebacker Thurston Armbrister and has a sister that lives in Broward County. Parker said UM coach Al Golden already did an in-home visit with Bostwick last week. He finished his senior season as a third team all-state selection, registering 60 tackles, two sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss while also being a big-time run blocker at tight end.
"He's a moose -- strong, explosive," Parker said. "We had him mostly on the edge. His junior year he had a better year because he had better players around him. This year we had nobody of that caliber. We moved him around inside and out. If he gets a little more flexible he can play on the edge at the next level."
Parker said Bostwick maxed out at 353 pounds on the bench press and squated 535 pounds. "He's just a big kid -- not fat at all," Parker said. "He's only the third kid I've had to play all four years at the varsity level in my 23 years of coaching."
Parker said Bostwick still has some work to do in the classroom. He said Bostwick, rated a 4-star recruit by both Rivals.com, 247Sports and ESPN, has a 2.3 GPA and scored a 20 on his ACT.
"We don't want him to be close; we want him to have everything he needs," Parker said. "I want him to take on online class to replace some D's he made his freshman and sophomore year. By doing that he'll bring his GPA up."
> Rivals.com recruiting analyst Robert Cassidy said of the three JUCO recruits UM has in its class tight end Beau Sandland is clearly the best and the most ready to contribute right away. Sandland was rated the No. 1 JUCO tight end by 247Sports.com after catching 24 passes for 267 yards and 3 TDs at Los Angeles Pierce College this past season.
"There's going to be some work with [outside linebacker] Devante Bond and Kamalu, but Sandland is more of a slam dunk," Cassidy said. "He's a major Division 1 football player right now. All the tools are there. Good hands. He shines with blocking too, not afraid of laying a guy on his back. He's one of my favorite JUCO players in the country."
Cassidy said he's a bit surprised Sandland ended up at Miami, even though Sandland liked UM's tradition at tight end and sees himself as sort of Jeremy Shockey-type.
"Every school in the country was recruiting him. He had a bunch of offers. But he basically had to ruled out the entire SEC because they don't take online math he took as credit," Cassidy explained. "He really liked Florida. He was all geeked to visit Florida. But it ended up coming down to Miami, Arizona State and Nebraska and he felt like he could make the bigger impact at Miami."
> As far as UM's vacant offensive coordinator position goes, I haven't heard anything serious yet. Some have wondered if Mario Cristobal would do it. That's not happening. Cristobal isn't a play-caller. He's a great recruiter and very good offensive line coach.
