Ronnie Chalmers, better-known as the proud papa of Big Shot Mario Chalmers, has resigned as the director of basketball operations.
I’m not saying Chalmers wasn’t qualified to be the operations guy at Kansas and I am not questioning whether or not he did a quality job in his tenure in Lawrence. He was a former high school basketball coach.
However, let’s make one thing clear: He was hired to help get a commitment from Mario Chalmers.
It worked to perfection since it brought a national title to Kansas this past season and Chalmers wound up making the biggest shot of the entire season – the last-second trifecta that forced overtime and ended up beating Memphis in a thrilling contest.
There have been plenty of other package deals in the past – Danny and Ed Manning (a former truck driver) at Kansas, DaJuan and Milt Wagner to Memphis, even Kansas State assistant Dalonte Hill and Michael Beasley.
Don’t be surprised if one more package deal comes together in the next few months or so. Baylor coach Scott Drew hired the AAU coach of the top-rated player in the country, John Wall, last week.
Sure, Baylor assistant Matthew Driscoll coached Wall’s AAU coach at D-One, Dwon Clifton, for a couple years at Clemson. But that’s not the reason Clifton was brought on as the Director of Player Development.
Clifton was hired to lure Wall, who has Baylor atop or near his list of favorites.
bwoo - it does not matter whether he was hired before or after the affect is the same so don't try to 'spin' it.
i, personally, like the KU program.
This practice, however, HAS to stop. Memphis is doing it, Baylor is in the process of trying to do it. The ncaa HAS to step up and end it.
And where is the coaches' assoc on this one? Sleeping?
How the NCAA can allow this is beyond me -- then again the NCAA is beyond making sense anyway. Memphis and Kansas was the classic matchup of everything wrong with college basketball, but sports commentators drooled all over them.
Come on guys. There are dozens of college head coaches who have had their own sons on their teams over the years. Are you going to say they can't do that, either? Some of them were good players, some have gone on to take over their dad's coaching job later on. What's the big deal?
jayhawk, If the coaches got their jobs due to their son's talents, then that is wrong as well. If they got the jobs w/o the influence of their sons but from their own credentials, then I see nothing wrong with it. In most cases, naturally their sons would want to attend the college where their father coaches.
From what I've read, this clearly was intended for the sole purpose of luring a gifted athlete to the program.
I'm not a "die hard" Kansas fan, but I like Kansas too. I didn't realize this had happened. From my view, it does take them down a notch. Kansas has too good of a program to have to resort to this.
Last edited by duncansbuddy on August 13th at 1:24 PM.
IlliniPete - You are bitter over KU basketball like every other Illinois fan since Bill left. Grow up - KU is "everything wrong with college basketball"? Get a clue.
I am fairly sure that if they could go back in time and do it again that they would, It worked out well for the Chalmers family and the Jayhawk family as well.. Lets see Danny and his dad=National championship, Mario and his dad= National championship, I see a pattern here lets roll with it Coach Self..Find another for us....Say what you want but at least Kansas does not go after the one year wonder guys..They are fun to watch but I do not think they are good for the NCAA or the Programs they attend..Way to go genious Stern...You already lost one to Europe what will it take to come to your senses...And seeing that we play Arizona I am glad the guy went to europe...Of course with 31 national televised games we might have some unexpected one year wonders...Rock Chalk Baby...
Illini fans: Does the name Wayne McClain ring a bell? He brought Sergio McClain, Marcus Griffin, and Frank Williams to Champaign. That was a package deal that almost brought a Final Four to Champaign (Arizona nipped them in the Elite Eight).
Yeah, we have heard of Wayne McClain he's been sitting on the Illini bench as an assistant coach for the past 7 years. He won the AA state championship as a high school coach 3 years running and was the high school coach of the year for several seasons, but I"m sure he helped get and still helps get many excellent players to Illinois from the Peoria area. His son Sergio graduated after a four year career at Illinois in 2001, and Wayne accepted the Illinois assistant coach spot in 2002. Can you tell the difference between hiring a guy for a season to recruit his son and hiring an exceptionally qualified coach who provides a continuing connection to an in-state recruiting resource for the Illini? I'm not condemning KU for hiring Chalmers, but at the same time it's unfair to compare Chalmers and his job at KU to a man like McClain.
Mario has a great family and they have served as a support group for him. His Dad as high school coach in Alaska, they then followed him after he signed his Letter of Intent with Kansas, and they will no doubt end up in Florida where Mario will be feeding the bball to Dwayne Wade and Michael Beasley. I for one don't find it surprising that Mario's old man is not staying at Kansas given what they have done as a family in the past.
As for Ed Manning, yes Larry Brown did hire him while Danny was still in high school and not only did KU benefit but so did Lawrence High School. For those of you that said he was a truck driver before he was at KU you are right but that is only part of the story. He also had been a player in the NBA and the ABA so he had a basketball background. If others remember the time line help me out here but, it seems that Ed left after Larry Brown bolted for the pros and new coach Roy Williams was coming in. He stayed in basketball though as a scout for the pros.
Last edited by kstruthseeker on August 13th at 10:46 PM.
It is so fair to compare Ronnie Chalmers to McClain... Ronnie Chalmers was an outstanding high school coach leading his team to two consecutive state championships in Alaska before being hired on at Kansas (after his son had already signed his LOI)... Ronnie Chalmers has a great reason for leaving... His son now has a multi-million dollar contract that he and his family can live off of... Can McClain say the same thing???
IlliniPete,
I think that the Illini faithful are still a bit salty over Bill Self leaving their program for a more prestigious university... "Memphis and Kansas was the classic matchup of everything wrong with college basketball, but sports commentators drooled all over them."... Now how do figure that??? Kansas was led by experienced veteran leadership while Memphis was the team with the one-and-done player in Derrick Rose... Dont be upset because the last time your team went to a Final Four, it was with Bill Self recruited talent... Bruce Weber hasnt coached his team to anything in the couple years since and also hasnt landed any super commitments... Dont hate on KU because every other team in the nation has the ability (and job opening) to do the same thing as Ronnie Chalmers and Kansas
TALK ABOUTS A PERK HIRE YOUR DAD AND BOOST THE FAMILY INCOME HOW MUCH.. IS THIS HOW YOU GUYS HAVE TO WIN NO THANKS BY THE WAY HOW ARE THE GUYS DOING IN CAMP LOTS OF PINE FOR THIS DRAFT PICKS WHO'S WHO OF WHO?
Danny wanted to play for Duke. But his dad had one
too many dui's. Look how well they done with both
dads at KU. Two NC is worth it. Mario left way to early.
Last edited by jayhawk67 on August 14th at 9:52 AM.
McClain has a successful career underway at Illinois, Chalmers was given a sinecure at Kansas for one year to lure his son to the program. See how that's different?
Chalmers helped recruit his son to Kansas where they won a National Championship, and now both are gone. Mission accomplished no harm was done to the Kansas program nobody got hurt. I don't have a problem with Chalmers or Kansas.
I detailed the differences between McClain and Chalmers on my last post, but maybe I wasn't clear enough.
1. Chalmers joined Kansas with his son - McClain joined the Illini the year after his son finished up his four year career with the team.
2. Chalmers duties beyond keeping his son happy and focused were unclear - McClain is an assistant coach and important recruiting asset.
3. When his son moved on Chalmers also moved on - McClain's son had already moved on, and McClain has been an assistant at Illinois for seven years.
I don't know what Chalmers' motivation is, but I'd like to think he's concerned for his son's well being. The assertion Chalmers left Kansas because now he can live off his son's pro contract seems far more offensive than anything any Illini fans have said about him. Regardless of why he left he did leave, and therefore his value to Kansas was only as a tool to bring in the son. McClain is valuable to the Illinois program in his own right, and his contributions have gone well beyond the influence he undoubtedly exercised with his son.
This is how you get ahead in college basketball now. Look at KSU, we hire Hill, and now we have an in with the DC Assault AAU team, which is a nice pipeline to have. There are no rules against this, and Baylor is smart for trying to get Walls this way. KU was one of the first to do such a thing with Manning in the 80's. KU has 2 titles now for doing such a thing, and KSU is back on the college basketball map, people can either get with the times or get left behind!
Kstater, you're school may have to do this to get ahead, but there's plenty of schools out there that do not have to resort to this. And I assure you they won't fall behind...
I don't see anything wrong with it. Mario was able to go to a good school, win a title, and get an education.
Goodman don't act like UNC has never done the same thing. I know your a UNC homer and would never say anything bad about them but they have done it several times in the past as well.
I see nothing wrong it at all. It isn't like Mario went to a scrub school, he went to KU and to play for coach Self.
Schools like KU and other top schools who have done it, wouldn't have done it if the dads they hired weren't qualified. Maybe some scrub teams would hire unqualified dads to get their sons but top programs like KU wouldn't do it unless they guy was qualified to do the job. It wouldn't be in the best benefit for top programs to hire unqualified dads just to get their sons.
Goodman is just mad bc he use to work for a UNC fansite and is a UNC homer and his UNC tarhills couldn't get the job done last year and choked.
Get over it Goodman. Heck, I am a UK Fan and I have no hard feelings over anything KU did. They have a great program, great coach, the best team going into the season, and the best team at the end of the season.
yes, there are a handful of schools (KU,UK,Duke,UNC,UCLA) that do not need to resort to this, but for teams that have not been relevant in years, like KState, this is a great way to jump start your program, by hiring a known commodity with AAU ties, because the best in HS play AAU ball. It is about the relationships built within. Coach K is one of the exceptions, he can just call a recruit.
IlliniPete says-"Memphis and Kansas was the classic matchup of everything wrong with college basketball'. What is wrong with Memphis being in the final game? They didn't cheat, they didn't have any player's father on staff, why is it wrong for them to be in the final? Please explain yourself, please tell me you don't have an agenda and are not mad because YOUR team didn't make it. I'm dying to hear what you have to say.
Could we just end the hypocrisy and pay the players. It would stop the one and done playe who has to quit school to supprt his family. Of course the greedy coaches would never share their profits with the players that work their tails off for basket weaving classes and free chow.
Kstater, I'm not well versed with what you're referring to regarding KS, but it sounds like the situation is totally different. From what you're saying, it sounds as though this person has experience with close ties to an organization. Totally different from what I was referring to in earlier comments.
You're correct, the schools you mentioned above do not have to resort to this. There are many others with great programs, but those mentioned are the heavy weights. That's why it surprised me regarding KU. Even though they did something similar decades ago. They have been in the cream of the crop, so to speak, for several years now.
I just think that it reflects negatively toward the institutions that do this from the majority of us that are not biased toward specific schools which practice this.
Sounds like you need to get over it... Sounds as though you're a bit sour because your team hasn't done well recently. They'll bounce back.
Goodman/Fox are west coast guys. Last year, more articles were written regarding UCLA than any other school. The closest individual school that came close was still only at appx. a 4 to 1 ratio in favor of UCLA. Did UCLA deserve this? No..
Ronnie Chalmers was hired something like 6 to 8 months after Mario had already committed to KU and signed his letter of intent... It just so happens that Ronnie was also an excellent high school coach... Not some bum off the street
Kansas is famous for shameless rule bending in this area. Danny Manning grew up in Greensboro NC. He was committed to attend UNC. Kansas hired his dad Ed, who was working as a truck driver, to be an assistant coach in return for Danny changing his commitment from UNC to KU.
But there was a problem. KU had a rule that all faculty, and BB coaches are faculty, were required to have a college degree. Ed did not qualify. The University compromised their integrity under intense pressure from head coach Larry Brown, changed the rule, and gave Ed a faculty position based on his "degree" in truck driving. Larry went on and on about what a great assistant coach Ed was and how it had nothing to do with Danny. That's how KU purchased their first NCAA championship. As soon as Danny left for the NBA, Ed was gone. He clearly had no place coaching college kids. It was all a sham.
For anyone that asks what Rock Chalk Jayhawk means, it means a National Championship is more important than institutional integrity. Wth such big bucks at stake and the NCAA rules as full of loopholes as they are, I am not surprised. Hope the folks in Kansas are proud.
This is a huge opportunity for coruption! I don't think that because he was hired after a letter of intent was signed makes it any better. What, coach Self has the inability to say, "Once your son signs a LOI, I'll get you a position in the program."? This was a back alley, secret handshake deal to "leagally" pay a player and his family to come play ball at Kansas.
The Director of Basketball Operations does exactly what again? Fill basketballs with air, oh that's right, his job was to collect a fat check and make sure his kid's pockets are full.
NCAA needs to fix this.
I'd like to know how many games did Ronnie play? And what parent doesn't have a say as to where thier kid would attend school. Full ride or not. Parents still have that input. So who cares. This is coming from a Carolina fan.
As a matter of fact. Why don't they just pay the players. These schools are making tons of money off of these kids and these kids get what? Of yeah a free education in how to get played. By the way. What's the purpose of recruiting? To make your team better. Close the deal. That's what they did. Closed the deal. Go Kansas!
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com - This is the only place you'll find continuous daily updates from the world of college basketball, so check back as often as you'd like.
