zeck, csi, miller, dupree

socalogo.gif (8739 bytes)
SoCalHoops Recruiting News

CSI, Zeck, USC, Miller, Dupree:
Intrigue, Mystery & Retribution?--(Aug. 27, 2000)

Remember the old BeeGees song "I started a Joke" (And, depending on which verse you're thinking of, continued "which started the whole world crying". . . Well, USC assistant coach Dave Miller probably does. And we're pretty sure College of Southern Idaho head coach Derek Zeck does too.

Miller, who is often a very funny guy may have put himself on the spot, the victim of his own joke. . . that is, if he even made the statement he's alleged to have made. Here's the deal: The Pumps held a JC Shootout and Team Camp at Cal State Northridge late in July when the rest of the high school prospects were winding things up at the Oakland Slam N Jam/EBO Elite 8x2 Tournament in Berkeley. While Silvey Dominguez was up in Berkeley, Dave Miller was down at Northridge checking out the JUCO guys. While at Northridge, Miller was busy watching Jerry Dupree, who played last season for the College of Southern Idaho. Dupree played high school ball at Moreno Valley, in the San Bernardino-Riverside area. Derek Zeck is the head coach at CSI. According to allegations published by just about every major news service, Miller allegedly said to Zeck that if Zeck would help him recruit Jerry Dupree to USC, he write a check to the CSI booster club. Zeck reportedly said to Miller "We don't do that" or words to that effect.

Zeck has now tried to back away from the allegation, and CSI's president is also seeking to distance the school from the story, fearing the distractions which might come if they pressed for an NCAA investigation, which wouldn't, in the real world do anything to CSI other than take up time, which might be better spent on their own program.

Now maybe it's not really CSI's fault that all of this got started. Coach Miller probably ought to know that not everyone has a good sense of humor (or the slightly twisted sense of humor that one often finds expressed at basketball recruiting events). And while CSI is one heck of a program, and coach Zeck is a good coach who gets excellent talent and helps them move on to four year schools, this has created somewhat of a public relations nightmare for both schools, especially for CSI with the timing of the story coinciding with news that former CSI player Kenny Brunner would not be admitted to yet another school (this time Georgia) [see related article posted today].

But let's take the actual allegation by coach Zeck. This one has been reported everywhere. CBS Sportsline, ESPN, the LA Times, you name it, everyone published the same story. Here's the gist of it as reported by the Associated Press:

College of Southern Idaho men's basketball coach Derek Zeck said he was offered money to help the University of Southern California recruit one of his players.

Zeck said on Wednesday that the offer came from USC assistant coach David Miller when Southern Idaho visited the Adidas Double Pump camp July 28-30 at California State University at Northridge.

Zeck said Miller asked him to help USC recruit forward Jerry Dupree, a 6-foot-7 sophomore. "He said, 'I'll write you a check to donate to your booster club to recruit and get Jerry,' " Zeck said. "I said, 'I don't do that.' "

Such a payment would violate NCAA rules.

Paul Goldberg, USC's assistant sports information director, said it was the first time he had heard the allegation. He said USC coaches were barred from discussing any matters regarding recruits.

Wally Renfro, the NCAA's public relations director, said he could not discuss possible penalties if the Zeck's claims were proven.

Likewise, there's been not much comment from USC except to deny the entire thing. As noted in the LA Times on Thursday:

USC Coach Henry Bibby denounced the accusation as "ludicrous" Thursday before being instructed by USC officials not to comment until he had discussed the situation with Athletic Director Mike Garrett. Bibby later released a statement that Zeck's remarks regarding the recruitment of Dupree "are completely false. Neither I nor anyone on my staff offered any money to Mr. Zeck. We have worked very hard as a staff to build the USC basketball program into one of the most competitive in the Pac-10, if not the nation, and we have done so by following the rules." Miller has denied making the offer. Garrett, traveling with the football team to New Jersey for Sunday's Kickoff Classic game against Penn State, could not be reached for comment.

Of course, there's another side to this story, one which lends credence to the theory that someone (whether it was Zeck or not is unknown) "floated" this story as a way of getting some kind of retribution against the Trojans. Here's the deal: Last season, CSI assistant coach John Smith was working with Jerry Dupree while Dupree was with the team. The two reportedly developed a good relationship with each other. Earlier this summer, when Jeff Oliver, the former coach at San Bernardino Valley College was hired in July as an assistant at Cal State San Bernardino (which also coincidentally signed Bobbie Burries, one of the leading SBVC players last season), that created an immediate coaching vacancy at SBVC, and John Smith applied for and got the job. Now as they say, timing is everything, and we're the first to admit we're a bit hazy on this, but either before or after the alleged comments were made by Miller to Zeck, Jerry Dupree (who, you'll recall is also from San Bernardino) either committed verbally (or he never did commit) to the Trojans. Either way, it was widely reported by most recruiting services that Dupree had been offered by the Trojans, and that he was going to be the last recruit for the year for USC. Shortly after the summer tournament at which Miller allegedly made the statement to Zeck, Dupree transferred to San Bernardino Valley College, where he is reportedly enrolled.

Clearly, to the conspiracy buffs out there, CSI's Zeck and his staff were angry. So mad that on August 17, days before Zeck's allegations about the check to the CSI booster club was reported, Jay Cyriac, another CSI assistant was reported by Recruiting USA to have said "You can bet that there'll be no further commitments to USC from us."

Were the allegations, as suggested by many, just a way of getting even? An attempt to hurt Dupree's recruiting after he was disloyal to CSI? Or did Miller actually make the statement and was he serious or just joking? Well, at the very least, there are many who believe (most who know Dave Miller) that even if the words were spoken, they were spoken in jest. Of course coach Miller denies it. Coach Bibby has denied it. CSI's President is backing away from it, and coach Zeck has also said he won't press the matter further. Andy Katz, who sometimes writes for the Fresno Bee, and who also writes a weekly column for ESPN, spoke with Zeck, and Katz had the following take on it all:

CSI's Zeck said Southern Cal coach Henry Bibby called him Wednesday to say he wouldn't recruit 6-7 and former CSI player Jerry Dupree because of Zeck's comments Wednesday in Twin Falls, Idaho. Zeck said USC assistant David Miller approached him and offered him money to recruit Dupree. USC and Miller deny the statement took place. Zeck is backpedaling from the comments, which were picked up on the national wire after they first appeared in Twin Falls. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it," Zeck said. Zeck said he wouldn't pursue the matter.

Zeck said he considered reporting the offer to the NCAA immediately, but did not want to deal with the distraction of an investigation. Dupree left Southern Idaho last week. Reached by phone in California on Wednesday, he said he was enrolling at San Bernardino Valley College, which like Southern Idaho is a two-year school. John Smith, an assistant coach under Zeck last season, is San Bernardino Valley's head basketball coach. He said Dupree will not play for San Bernardino, thereby preserving three years of NCAA eligibility.

An NCAA investigation over this one? We don't think so.