In late August of 2010, word surfaced that a former Miami booster was penning a book that would include allegations that numerous former members of the Hurricanes had committed major NCAA violations.
A year later, those NCAA roosters are reportedly coming home to roost.
According to InsideTheU.com, the NCAA will be meeting with “‘a number’ of people Monday to try to gain more knowledge of the situation” involving former UM booster Nevin Shapiro. Shapiro, who has in the past donated $150,000 to the Miami football program, was convicted in June of a $900 million Ponzi scheme that reportedly left upwards of 60 victims with losses totaling $80 million.
Last year, Shapiro alleged, ahead of what was scheduled to be a December book release and as he sat in a New Jersey jail awaiting sentencing, that he was “speaking of no less than 100 former players” at Miami with whom he had a relationship. Jon Beason, Devin Hester, Antrel Rolle, Randy Phillips, Robert Marve and Kyle Wright were specifically identified by Shapiro as former ‘Canes he was close with; the mention of Marve, Phillips and Wright should be particularly troubling to the university as it falls well within the NCAA’s four-year “statute of limitations”.
Here’s an excerpt of the original post, which fully explains how having a rich, avid, shady, sketchy, JILTED fan attached to your football program can cause things to go horribly wrong. And cause the NCAA to start sniffing around your athletic house.“This will be a tell-all book from a fan and booster perspective,” said Shapiro, who did not attend UM. But why write a book that will hurt UM?
“I want to make the average fan aware of what really exists under that uniform,” he said. “They might be great players, but they’re certainly not great people. I’m speaking of no less than 100 former players.”
Shapiro, 41, is angry because “once the players became pros, they turned their back on me. It made me feel like a used friend.” He was motivated by “heartbreak and disappointment on behalf of the university, which I considered to be an extended part of my family.”
In their report on this developing situation, the 24/7 Sports.com website writes that, according to unnamed sources, “Larry Coker was blissfully ignorant (to Shapiro) and Randy Shannon hated that guy and didn’t want anything to do with him.”
Coker coached the ‘Canes from 2001 through 2006; Shannon was the head coach of the Hurricanes from 2007 until he was fired after the 2010 regular season. Shapiro has reportedly been associated with Miami -- financially or otherwise -- since 2001.
A source close to the situation has confirmed to CFT that it’s uncertain whether a Hazmat team will deployed to support the NCAA in their talks with Shapiro and those associated with his ilk.