Satellite camp saga deepens as Pac-12 commish reveals new information
Let me start with a disclaimer: I’m as tired of this satellite camp issue as I’m sure some of you are.
But there’s new information tonight that deepens the saga.
I’ll sit back and let those who are reporting on this situation fill you in…
Pac-12 commish Larry Scott says UCLA AD Dan Guerrero, voting for a ban on satellite camps, “did not vote the way he was supposed to vote."
— George Schroeder (@GeorgeSchroeder) April 20, 2016
Larry Scott said 11 of 12 Pac-12 members favored current satellite camp rules. Who was the one? "Form your own conclusions."
— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) April 20, 2016
College ADs serving as conference representatives on NCAA matters seems like the plot for a Netflix original series.
— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) April 21, 2016
That's a bombshell from Larry Scott. The whole D1 council voting structure looks corrupt now. Liaisons are supposed to represent leagues
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 20, 2016
Sources told me going into satellite camp vote, the expected result was 8-7 in favor of current structure. Votes were expected to be (1/2)
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 21, 2016
(2/2) Keeping camps: B1G (2 points), Pac-12, MWC, MAC, C-USA, AAC. Against: ACC, SEC, Big 12, Sun Belt. P5 leagues = 2 pts. G5 leagues =1 pt
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 21, 2016
To reverse the satellite camp vote, 2 leagues that voted for ban must propose new legislation to D1 council. Pac-12, you're on the clock …
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 21, 2016
And while you're at it, you might want to talk to the Mountain West. Plenty of coaches in that league wanted to keep camps.
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) April 21, 2016
The original vote was 10-5 to ban. Had Pac-12 and Sun Belt reps voted their league's wishes, it would have been 8-7 not to ban.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) April 20, 2016
The Sun Belt may have something to do with the SEC. "Want to keep getting $1 million a game to get trounced?" https://t.co/LApGZbgnML
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) April 20, 2016
Now we just need to find out how the Big 12 and Mountain West reps voted against the interests of the majority of schools in their leagues.
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) April 20, 2016
In other words, the Pac-12 expected to vote in favor of open season for satellite camps. But UCLA, which doesn’t need them due to its prime real estate in Los Angeles and greater Southern California, decided it would go rogue.
Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said a majority of the conference was pro-satellite camp, though Texas State AD Larry Teis voted for the Sun Belt in favor of banning the camps. There are plenty of conspiracy theorists who will tell you that the SEC somehow influenced the Sun Belt’s vote.
Either way, satellite camps — staging or participating in football camps off campus, like Jim Harbaugh’s recent tour-de-force in the Southeast, is now banned. This issue may resurface at some point soon. In the meantime, it appears as though even the SEC may have been surprised that the vote came out in favor of a ban.
The SEC mostly has been opposed to satellite camps because it may give away a marginal recruiting advantage the league has based on its geographical footprint. Even with no satellite camps, though, there’s no way to ban the Harbaughs of the world from flying into Lakeland, Fla., to recruit a kid at his high school.
I’m still convinced that if this was taking place during the season, no one would care.
