I wonder what soccer clubs from sd help with this skeme
College Entrance Scam includes former Yale Women's Soccer Coach
- Thread starter Dos Equis
- Start date
Zerodenero
GOLD
So I'm on the phone w/my player this morning who stayed back in New Haven over the break. As she's leaving morning training, we're talking and she suddenly gets ambushed by a reporter, pelting her with questions..."are you with the Yale women's soccer team"...."how do you feel"....."did you see anything"....etc etc. I watched the interview tonight..... Frustrated/disappointed. Her body language said it all.
No matter your take, the situation ain't easy. Especially for those that truly had to grind to get there....Grind to stay there ....and grind to get to where they want to go in life. Without daddy-warbucks paving the way.
The irony in all this is, amidst the mess....my kiddo took a class last semester that made a impression on her. One that may have changed the direction of post playing/college career...Class name, "Criminal Minds". Career interest...FBI.
What a coinkydink
With all of the talk about paying athletes beyond a scholarship, I think this will have (eventually) widespread implications on college athletics.
Why should someone who can run, jump, throw, kick, row, swing a racket, etc be allowed entry with lower grades than the majority of students?
Why should someone who can run, jump, throw, kick, row, swing a racket, etc be allowed entry with lower grades than the majority of students?
eastbaysoccer
GOLD
Mail fraud-
Up to 20 years incarceration and up to a 250k fine. Very serious crime.
I can’t imagine any of these parents spending a day in jail. Their money will allow them to assemble a dream team of lawyers.
The sad news is the poor coaches could see some time as they won’t have the funds to assemble a team of tremendous litigators.
soccerobserver
GOLD
@Tbuck the answer to your question is simple. They generate a of money, prestige and interest for the school. I was once told that Stanford football pays for the entire athletic department of Stanford. It's a serious business.
Paragraph 61, page 10, of the indictment states that USC women's soccer coach Ali Khosrashin and his assistant Laura Janke controlled a "private soccer club", and used control of that club as a vehicle to fabricate a false soccer resume for one prospective student-athlete. Which club was that?
soccerobserver
GOLD
He owns Newport Futbol Club in Newport Beach...before that he was B07 coach for Total Futbol Academy in east LA for 6 months...he also ran Advantage Sports Academy (no pun intended) and Road to College Soccer up until December 2018.
Eagle33
PREMIER
He just a hired coach for Newport FC. Someone else is an owner.
soccerobserver
GOLD
@Eagle32 I was basing this on his LinkedIn profile which says his title is "Owner" of Newport Futbol Club.
Eagle33
PREMIER
No problem. I was basing this on my personal knowledge of both individuals.
Surfref
PREMIER
It will be interesting to see what sanctions the NCAA throws at these sports programs. I would expect a couple years of no playoffs and scholarship restrictions. IMHO this is just the tip of the iceberg and today there are probably a good number of college coaches praying the NCAA does not start taking a closer look at their programs and recruiting process.
I was wondering if there is even any NCAA violation here at all. The usual situation that the NCAA gets involved in concerns money flowing from a college or supporter of the college to an athlete or his family. The money is to be going the other way here.
Surfref
PREMIER
You have been around long enough to know that anything that shines negative light on NCAA sports will end in some type of sanctions. This is high visibility so the NCAA will need to make an example out of these schools to uphold the integrity of NCAA athletic programs.
jpeter
PREMIER
Some of individuals named in the articles have club soccer involvement and could bring the "foundations" workaround in more focus by law enforcement organizations especially dealing with taxes.
We personally know some players on the other end of the spectrum that were being recruited or made verbal or other commitments to some of these schools but that maybe in Jeopardy due to head coach or programs possibly being suspended or sanctioned.
"United States District Court of Massachusetts announced charges against former Yale women’s soccer head coach Rudy Meredith on Tuesday in one of the most prominent and comprehensive cases as part of the FBI investigation in college admission and bribery scheme. The charges allege that Meredith accepted financial gifts in exchange for helping with the admission of potential students as he designated them as recruits for his team, even though the applicants did not play competitive soccer.
Meredith resigned from his position as head coach of the Yale women’s soccer team in November of 2018. The charges allege that Meredith accept brides in November of 2017 and April of 2018.
The charge alleges that Meredith and William Rick Singer engaged in the practice of designating applicants to Yale as recruits to the women’s soccer team in exchange for personal financial gain beginning in 2015.
The first case that the charges lay out alleges that Singer was approached by a father in November of 2017 who was looking to get his daughter into a top college in exchange for a “donation.”
Singer sent the resume to Meredith with the note that he would change the applicants’ personal statement, which contained references to her art portfolio, to soccer.
Meredith designated the applicant as a recruit for the women’s soccer team, even though he was aware she did not play soccer at that level. Singer paid Meredith $400,000 after the applicant was admitted into Yale. Theapplicant’s family contributed to $1.2 million to Meredith during and after the admissions process.
The second case against Meredith alleges that Meredith met directly with the father of an applicant in April of 2018 in Boston. Meredith stated in the conversation, which the FBI recorded, that he would designate the applicant as a recruit for the Yale women’s soccer team in exchange for $450,000.
The charges against Meredith are conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; and honest services wire fraud.
He is not the only college soccer coach listed in the investigation. Former USC women’s head coach Ali Khosroshahin, former USC assistant coach Laura Janke, and current UCLA men’s soccer head coach Jorge Salcedo are also listed as defendants.
The case against Khosroshahin, Janke, and Salcedo alleges that Bruce Isackson and Davina Isackson paid an intermediary, who is referred to as a cooperating witness in the charges, to secure their daughter’s admission to USC - her first choice school - as arecruited athlete.
The case states that the cooperating witness emailed the falsified information to Janke in September of 2015.
The USC assistant athletic director emailed the women’s soccer coach in February of 2016 stating the application had been sent to the regular admissions process due to a “clerical error.”
Khosroshahin, who was fired by USC in 2013, sent the falsified application to Salcedo in May of 2016. UCLA’s student-athlete admissions approved the daughter as a provisional applicant for the fall of 2018.
The case alleges that the cooperating witness directed a payment from a company called Key WorldwideFoundation (KWF) to a sports marketing company controlled by Salcedo in the amount of $100,000 on July 7, 2016. The cooperating witness also states that KWF issued a check to Khosroshahin in the amount of $25,000.
There was a player on the UCLA women’s soccer roster briefly in 2017 with the name Lauren Isackson, who listed her parents as Bruce and Davina on her player profile. She is no longer on the UCLA roster
Longtime UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo has been placed on leave in the wake of his indictment in the college admissions scandal that's breaking today.
Janke, Khosroshahin, and Salcedo are all charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Khosroshahin and Janke are also involved in another case in the investigation, which took place in 2012, which helped facilitate the admission of a student to USC as a recruit for the soccer team. There were two donations made to Khosroshahin and Janke’s private soccer club for $100,000 after the admission of the student to USC. She never played for the USC soccer team.
The case also alleges that Janke falsified the athletic records for another student to help him earn enrollment to USC on the football team"
https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/college-sports-scandal-hits-soccer_aid45953
We personally know some players on the other end of the spectrum that were being recruited or made verbal or other commitments to some of these schools but that maybe in Jeopardy due to head coach or programs possibly being suspended or sanctioned.
"United States District Court of Massachusetts announced charges against former Yale women’s soccer head coach Rudy Meredith on Tuesday in one of the most prominent and comprehensive cases as part of the FBI investigation in college admission and bribery scheme. The charges allege that Meredith accepted financial gifts in exchange for helping with the admission of potential students as he designated them as recruits for his team, even though the applicants did not play competitive soccer.
Meredith resigned from his position as head coach of the Yale women’s soccer team in November of 2018. The charges allege that Meredith accept brides in November of 2017 and April of 2018.
The charge alleges that Meredith and William Rick Singer engaged in the practice of designating applicants to Yale as recruits to the women’s soccer team in exchange for personal financial gain beginning in 2015.
The first case that the charges lay out alleges that Singer was approached by a father in November of 2017 who was looking to get his daughter into a top college in exchange for a “donation.”
Singer sent the resume to Meredith with the note that he would change the applicants’ personal statement, which contained references to her art portfolio, to soccer.
Meredith designated the applicant as a recruit for the women’s soccer team, even though he was aware she did not play soccer at that level. Singer paid Meredith $400,000 after the applicant was admitted into Yale. Theapplicant’s family contributed to $1.2 million to Meredith during and after the admissions process.
The second case against Meredith alleges that Meredith met directly with the father of an applicant in April of 2018 in Boston. Meredith stated in the conversation, which the FBI recorded, that he would designate the applicant as a recruit for the Yale women’s soccer team in exchange for $450,000.
The charges against Meredith are conspiracy to commit wire fraud and honest services wire fraud; and honest services wire fraud.
He is not the only college soccer coach listed in the investigation. Former USC women’s head coach Ali Khosroshahin, former USC assistant coach Laura Janke, and current UCLA men’s soccer head coach Jorge Salcedo are also listed as defendants.
The case against Khosroshahin, Janke, and Salcedo alleges that Bruce Isackson and Davina Isackson paid an intermediary, who is referred to as a cooperating witness in the charges, to secure their daughter’s admission to USC - her first choice school - as arecruited athlete.
The case states that the cooperating witness emailed the falsified information to Janke in September of 2015.
The USC assistant athletic director emailed the women’s soccer coach in February of 2016 stating the application had been sent to the regular admissions process due to a “clerical error.”
Khosroshahin, who was fired by USC in 2013, sent the falsified application to Salcedo in May of 2016. UCLA’s student-athlete admissions approved the daughter as a provisional applicant for the fall of 2018.
The case alleges that the cooperating witness directed a payment from a company called Key WorldwideFoundation (KWF) to a sports marketing company controlled by Salcedo in the amount of $100,000 on July 7, 2016. The cooperating witness also states that KWF issued a check to Khosroshahin in the amount of $25,000.
There was a player on the UCLA women’s soccer roster briefly in 2017 with the name Lauren Isackson, who listed her parents as Bruce and Davina on her player profile. She is no longer on the UCLA roster
Longtime UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo has been placed on leave in the wake of his indictment in the college admissions scandal that's breaking today.
Janke, Khosroshahin, and Salcedo are all charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering.
Khosroshahin and Janke are also involved in another case in the investigation, which took place in 2012, which helped facilitate the admission of a student to USC as a recruit for the soccer team. There were two donations made to Khosroshahin and Janke’s private soccer club for $100,000 after the admission of the student to USC. She never played for the USC soccer team.
The case also alleges that Janke falsified the athletic records for another student to help him earn enrollment to USC on the football team"
https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/college-sports-scandal-hits-soccer_aid45953
shales1002
GOLD
I am not sure how these are NCAA violations as these kids were never athletes to begin with.
Depends what the coaches did with the money. SC water polo coach seems to have started a fund for the program with it - definitely an NCAA issue then. But a coach just taking a bribe to help a non-athlete alone probably isn't a violation at all.
I went to a college up in the Northwest that is famous for it's blue football field. When I got there the school had just gone from D2 to D1 in athletics, and cost around $3k per year to attend full time. When I started attending my friends had never heard of the university and would tease me for my lack of achievement. The local papers would run articles questioning why the highest paid state employee was the football coach...
Fast forward 20 years and all that changed- mainly because the football team started winning. Now when I say where I went folks have heard of the school, they now charge closer to $20k per year to attend and people will often stop me in the street to talk about he school if I wear a baseball cap with the universities logo on it.
For better or worse, athletics is powerful marketing tool that many people see not only as a reflection of the quality of the school, but adds value to the diploma. This is why athletes are prioritized, and why for better or worse they will continue to be prioritized at universities...
jpeter
PREMIER
Mutiple NCAA coaches and the athletic departments are involved, they will be investigated future and some time maybe years from now likely to be sanctioned, fined, suspended or action brought against them. Already happening at UCLA for example and didn't the USC crew team get disbanded yesterday?
Their bios from 2013 USC roster --
https://usctrojans.com/coaches.aspx?rc=276&path=wsoc
https://usctrojans.com/coaches.aspx?rc=280&path=wsoc
So far several firings and suspensions have been announced, and some of the coaches are no longer associated with the school anyway just due to the normal career turnover. I am sure the NCAA will be interested, but I am not sure what actual violations they will find there. Some of the cases are just SAT/ACT cheating that did not even involve athletes at all, and some were just phony claims to athletic experience in high school that did not result in a player becoming a participating NCAA student-athlete.
goldentoe
SILVER
I agree. There appears to have been isolated rogue actors at theses colleges pursuing personal financial gain who were recruited to be part of this syndicate assembled by Singer. It was designed to prey on rich parents, who in a quid pro quo deal, paid thousands to clear away any obstacles in their kids’ path.
The universities as a whole did not participate in the scam. The athletic departments didn’t benefit. Singer found, as he calls it, “the side door in” for these desperate and willing parents. Reading the indictment and reviewing the transcripts of Singer’s wire-taps, it’s astonishing that Singer didn’t even talk in code about what was happening. Parents wanted guarantees and he delivered. Much of it is on tape, or documented in email.
The indictment is an open and shut case. Now it’s just a matter of what kind of deals the feds will make, and what kind of pressure, if any the NCAA will exert on the schools involved. The named universities could self police by imposing strong sanctions on the programs included. I would think this is likely, since none of the implicated were associated with revenue generating sports.
The system is not broken. Roster spots were not lost to undeserving athletes. There were a few spoiled pukes that got pushed to the front of the admissions line, that’s it.
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