Sutton-Probation Question

[hoosierhateruklover]

I hate to bring up the whole probation thing under Sutton because it was very gloomy times, but I'm a big UK history buff and I recently got a job atone of the FedEx plants here in Kentuckyso I was wondering....that envelope that everyone talks about, was it sent thru Fedex, UPS, how? I know it didn't go thru the plant I work at because it wasn't around then but I was wondering if it may have went thru the old FedEx building that I used to work at...Thanks....

[cumberlandredskin]

It was Emory Freight and the package "popped open" in Los Angeles. I don't know where it would have gone through in Lexington.

[Wildcat Larry]

Isn't it interesting that when you get one of those envelopes it takes three men and a team of Clydesdales to get them open, but when they have money in them allegedly from UK and the envelope is in the same city as UCLA they just "pop" open. :?

[The Old School JPS]

The Emory envelope had $5,000 in cash inside, right? It is odd that it just came open, supposedly. Even if it were $20 bills there would only be 250 of them.

One often unnoted facet of that whole thing is how Dwayne Casey, the assistant who was tagged with having sent it, went on to a successful career as an NBA assistant, eventually.

Heck, Sutton came out of it OK too at Oklahoma State.

The losers were the fans, the university and some of the players.

I wonder if Sutton, now that he is retiring, might write a tell-all memoir about his entire career.

[CatsSaintsFan]

cumberlandredskin wrote: It was Emory Freight and the package "popped open" in Los Angeles. I don't know where it would have gone through in Lexington.
It was sent from Lexington to L.A.

[JPS]

hoosierhateruklover wrote: I hate to bring up the whole probation thing under Sutton because it was very gloomy times, but I'm a big UK history buff and I recently got a job atone of the FedEx plants here in Kentuckyso I was wondering....that envelope that everyone talks about, was it sent thru Fedex, UPS, how? I know it didn't go thru the plant I work at because it wasn't around then but I was wondering if it may have went thru the old FedEx building that I used to work at...Thanks....

One place that does go into detail about the Emery incident is in the book Raw Recruits. I wrote a book review of this in terms of UK. (with one section dealing with my observations about how they covered the Emery incident.)


http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/RawRecruits.html

Don't know what facility on the sending side the package went out.

Jon

[JPS]

The Old School JPS wrote: The Emory envelope had $5,000 in cash inside, right? It is odd that it just came open, supposedly. Even if it were $20 bills there would only be 250 of them.

One often unnoted facet of that whole thing is how Dwayne Casey, the assistant who was tagged with having sent it, went on to a successful career as an NBA assistant, eventually.

Heck, Sutton came out of it OK too at Oklahoma State.

The losers were the fans, the university and some of the players.

I wonder if Sutton, now that he is retiring, might write a tell-all memoir about his entire career.


The envelope was said to contain $1000. Would have to check back whether they were $100 bills or smaller.

Dwane Casey did go on to have a successful career, eventually. One could argue that the episode set him back at least 10 years though and significantly cut back on his opportunities to coach, especially on the collegiate level.

And yes, I believe Sutton has indicated he intends to write a tell-all book some day.

Jon

[Zakk Wyldcat]

Dwayne Casey is now the head coach of the Timberwolves. IMO, he was made UK's scapegoat/fall guyin that entire fiasco.

[Lost Highway]

I always thought the allegations were the "envelope"was a video game tape and there were 10 $100 bills squeezed into a video mailer. Now 10 bills are not that thick.

The question I always wanted answered was where did the money go? The Mills family denied receiving it and the UK family denied sending it. So who got it? Did Emory keep it? Did the NCAA take it for evidence? Did the LA Times newspaper with one John Caroll, a known UK hater from his Lexington Hearld days keep it? Where did it disappear too.

Without the cash, this case would not have passed the smell test in a court of law. But the NCAA doesn't need evidence to put a team on probation. Is it a wonder Coach Casey ended up with a huge settlement in his civil action against Emory?

Emory screwed up big time by going to the press before they called UK or the Mills family to ask what to do with the money. Bottom line don't ship Emory if you want your privacy protected.

[JPS]

I checked Raw Recruits and it says on page 5 that there were 20 fifty dollar bills. There was also a videotape in the package.

Chris Mills signed for the package, so presumably they got the money. Of course they're going to deny receiving it (no matter where it came from). No one is going to throw away their eligibility like that (although it is a fair question why Mills wasn't ineligible, given that the NCAA ruled that he received illegal inducements.)

FWIW, the thing that I always found fishy about this whole thing is that the package is given to a professional delivery man and told to deliver this particular package first. Yet it takes him four hours to deliver the package, all the while talking over the company radio (where everyone can hear ) detailing the contents of the package, etc. etc.

It's hard for me to believe that any pro could be that inept. I never worked in the delivery business but I find it hard to believe anyone would have a job if he averaged delivering two packages per 8-hour shift !

Jon

[Lost Highway]

Thanks JPS, 20 bills are really not that thick so I still don't understand how this package "popped open". Oh well, it is history now.

If I recall UCLA and UK were in a heated battle at the time for this recruit. We do know the Emory employee who allegedly discovered this package was a UCLA fan. He probably recognized the Mills name and the package probably had a UK Athletic return address on the label. Who knows what happened. Did he"tear" it open.

Didn't the LA Times get the story first and if so, somebody called them. It wasn't the Mills and it wasn't UK so it must have been Emory. Oh well, Dwayne Casey landed on his feet, Eddie Sutton landed on his feet and the only thing tarnished in all of this was the reputation of the University of Kentucky. Casey, Sutton and Mills all ended upmillionaires. The fans were left with a picture of "Shame" on the cover of Sports Illustrated. As usual when a scandal hits, the fans get screwed. The coaches and players all move on and the school is left to pick up the pieces.

[The Old School JPS]

That's right, it was $1,000, not $5,000.

I enjoyed your review, Jon. I really, really like your site.

Good point about the NCAA finding that Mills accepted improper benefits yet they allowed his NCAA career to continue.

And it is still odd that this particular package would happen to come open and that whoever found it in the Emery facility would make a point of contacting the media and so on . . .

[CARDSRTOAST]

JPS wrote: I checked Raw Recruits and it says on page 5 that there were 20 fifty dollar bills. There was also a videotape in the package.

Chris Mills signed for the package, so presumably they got the money. Of course they're going to deny receiving it (no matter where it came from). No one is going to throw away their eligibility like that (although it is a fair question why Mills wasn't ineligible, given that the NCAA ruled that he received illegal inducements.)

FWIW, the thing that I always found fishy about this whole thing is that the package is given to a professional delivery man and told to deliver this particular package first. Yet it takes him four hours to deliver the package, all the while talking over the company radio (where everyone can hear ) detailing the contents of the package, etc. etc.

It's hard for me to believe that any pro could be that inept. I never worked in the delivery business but I find it hard to believe anyone would have a job if he averaged delivering two packages per 8-hour shift !

JonChris Mills did NOT sign ..His Uncle did .Claude Mills was not at home.The driver did not even ask for a counting of the cash even though it was against Emery rules to deliver cash.

[POEKLM]

Duane Casey didn't exactly come out of this unschathed. He eventually came out richer after winning a lawsuit but I believe he was banned from coaching in the college ranks.

[CARDSRTOAST]

POEKLM wrote: Duane Casey didn't exactly come out of this unschathed. He eventually came out richer after winning a lawsuit but I believe he was banned from coaching in the college ranks.
Dwayne was banned for 5 years but he won over $7,000,000 from Emery in a out of court settlement.

[POEKLM]

CARDSRTOAST wrote: POEKLM wrote: Duane Casey didn't exactly come out of this unschathed. He eventually came out richer after winning a lawsuit but I believe he was banned from coaching in the college ranks.
Dwayne was banned for 5 years but he won over $7,000,000 from Emery in a out of court settlement.

I knew that you would know. I thought he was banned for a set amount of years.

I was at one of the Big 4 tournaments in Indy one year and this guy sitting in front of me turns to me and says, " you see that guy right there (pointing at Casey) he's the reason we're on probation right now" I said "oh yeah". Then I get out of my seat , march down to Duane like I am going to give him a piece of my mind and ask him if I could get a hug. We hugged and the guy in front of me didn't want to chat anymore.

[JPS]

CARDSRTOAST wrote:
Jon Chris Mills did NOT sign ..His Uncle did .Claude Mills was not at home.The driver did not even ask for a counting of the cash even though it was against Emery rules to deliver cash.

The only information I was basing that on was what was written in Raw Recruits, where the authors explicitly say that Mills signed for the package. (They mention this because the original person was a minor and the driver wouldn't accept their signature.) Maybe the authors got it wrong, or added it for dramatic effect (which has been known to occur) ?

Jon

[delkfor3]

No one will be able to convince me that, that "package" just "popped open". I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now. Anyone who has ever sent or recieved packages, knows that they don't just "pop open". :rolleyes: That is my 100% objective and unbiased opinion.:P

[Wildcat Larry]

delkfor3 wrote: No one will be able to convince me that, that "package" just "popped open". I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now. Anyone who has ever sent or recieved packages, knows that they don't just "pop open". :rolleyes: That is my 100% objective and unbiased opinion.:P
I'm with you here, Delk. All the packages that I've received through theses types of companies have nearly required the "jaw of life" to get them open. If that package was so fragile and popped open, why did it wait until it got all the way across the country to do so? Makes no sense.

It was the UCLA mafia, no question in my mind. ;):shrug::?

[Terry L. Wildcat]

:X:X:X:X...I've worked thirty years for the US Postal Service and twenty-six of those years I delivered mail...I have seen parcels/letters arrive damaged but NEVER have I seen one "pop open"....what a crock of stuff...I'm still pissed about it.

[delkfor3]

Terry L. Wildcat wrote: I'm still pissed about it.
As am I, and probably will be for life. Someone wanted to bring the UK basketball program down, and a lesser program would have never recovered. I don't pretend to know all the facts, but from everything that came out, it reeks of a set up.

[CARDSRTOAST]

Eddie Sutton has a problem and never faced it at UK..A man with poor choices..yes A Crook..No..A lot of loose management went on in those days..