Looks like Erick Barkley is toast at St. John's. He announced Saturday night
that he's leaving, and not just leaving but leaving campus immediately.
He's leaving a mess behind, too: the New York Post reports that
Barkley played agents against each other, which could land St. John's on
probation. They also report he got benefits from agents, including cash,
dates with models, was introduced to NBA players, and had some deals going with
rappers.
It looks nasty. This should concern a lot of folks, including Florida,
as they are next in line for a dose of the Duke curse. Originally we limited
this to NCAA toruney losses, but lately it has run rampant, so there are a few
regular season additions as well.
- 1984, Boston College, lost coach Gary Williams soon thereafter to Ohio
State. Program revived long enough to beat UNC, then self-destructed and
lost Jim O' Brien to...Ohio State. - 1985, Washington. The next year they played in Durham so riddled
with injuries that Detlelf Schrempf had to play point guard. A long decline
ensued and their German connection dried up. Decline finally arrested
by....Bob Bender - 1986, Louisville: A long slow descent followed, complete
with probation. - 1987, Indiana: A painful downperiod until 1992 Final Four
(where they lost to.....Duke). Decline reversed somewhat this year but NCAA
struggles continue. - 1988, Kansas: Probation, lost coach.
- 1989, Seton Hall: slow decline ensued, finally
arrested by...Amaker, who very nearly got them into the Final Eight. - 1990, Vegas. Lost rematch, lost coach, lost most prestige,
got Rollie Massimino - 1991 n/a
- 1992 n/a
- 1993, Cal. Probation, lost coach, big scandal, still
recovering. - 1994, Arkansas: a small probation, faded for several years,
just now reviving, but Nolan Richardson is unhappy and muttering about
leaving. - 1995 n/a
- 1996, Eastern Michigan: Lost coach (to Cal), faded from view, not heard
from since. - 1997, Providence: Program peaked, fell, lost coach to Uva
- 1998, Kentucky: Lost players to hardship in '98, draft,
transfers at the end of '99, a rash of serious auto related problems, most
recently including Desmond Allison's arrest. Tubby Smith is unhappy with the
fans and the way they treat his family and is rumored to be looking around. - 1999, UConn: El-Amin arrested for marijuana possession, , Hamilton left, two car/image
problems. Doug Wrenn arrested for alleged shoplifting before the season,
suspended twice. El-Amin suffers a critical injury in tournament, team loses
to Tennessee in NCAAs. - *2000, St. John's: Erick Barkley is being invesstigated for serious
transgressions. Probation is a strong possibility. Agents,
"dates," money from rappers reported. - *2000, Maryland: defeated Duke in Cameron, suffered one of the most embarrassing
losses in NCAA tournament history. - *2000, Stanford: upset by a seriously underachieving UNC program
*Regular season losses