Bookmaker Notes More Bad News for U Conn Basketball. It was not a good season in 2009-2010 for Connecticut vs. bookmaker odds and it may not get any better this season.
The Huskies were 18-16 last season straight up but a very poor 13-19 against the offshore betting odds. The news didn’t get any better on Friday as the NCAA announced it found numerous violations committed by head coach Jim Calhoun and his staff.
Bookmaker odds favored Connecticut a lot last season and the Huskies were a big disappointment. If that wasn’t bad enough, now the team is going to have to deal with the NCAA. The NCAA is accusing Connecticut of eight major violations. The NCAA spent over a year investigating the program and found hundreds of improper calls and texts from the Connecticut basketball staff to recruits.
The list of violations includes at least 160 improper calls and at least 191 improper texts to recruits. A former student manager is accused of providing improper benefits to a recruit. Not only did Connecticut make some mistakes they tried to cover them up. Director of men’s basketball operations, Beau Archibald and assistant coach Patrick Sellers are accused of providing false and misleading information to investigators. Head coach Jim Calhoun is also cited in the investigation as he was said not to have provided an atmosphere of compliance or monitor the program to make sure they complied with NCAA rules.
The bookmaker notes that head coach Jim Calhoun recently signed an extension (5-year, $13 million) to stay at Connecticut. He is definitely in for a tough time now with these allegations hanging over the program and the bookmaker odds could be affected. Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway offered support for Calhoun but he did say the university takes the allegations very seriously.
The NCAA spent 15 months investigating Connecticut and a number of assistants at Connecticut are named in the violations. Connecticut is scheduled to appear on October 15th to respond to the allegations. It is likely that Connecticut will impose their own sanctions before they go to the NCAA. Recruiting violations can do a lot of harm to a basketball program. Scholarships can be cut and it can make recruiting a lot more difficult. The days of Connecticut as a basketball power vs. offshore betting odds at the bookmaker could be coming to an end if they haven’t already.