UPDATE: According to Cecil Hurt of TideSports.com, Baker’s resignation is tied to the FBI’s recent investigation into college basketball.
Alabama associate athletic director Kobie Baker has resigned following an internal review into the program.
This comes on a day where the college basketball world was already reeling following Louisville’s firing of Rick Pitino, and Miami issuing a statement of its involvement in the NCAA corruption investigation.
According to a statement by Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne, the interview review did not reveal any SEC or NCAA violations.
“Following yesterday’s reports from New York regarding a Federal investigation of intercollegiate athletics, The University of Alabama Department of Athletics immediately initiated an internal review of our men’s basketball operations. As a result, we have accepted the resignation effective today of Kobie Baker, a men’s basketball administrator. Our review has not identified any NCAA or SEC rules violations nor the involvement of any other coach or staff member. We have notified both of the governing bodies of the actions we have taken. As always, we will continue to be proactive in our compliance efforts.”
Alabama and Auburn are currently the only two SEC schools that have been affected by any sort of fallout from yesterday’s FBI announcement.
Lovell’s Analysis
Well, here we go again.
Just when some thought this may be limited to four rogue assistant coaches and an Adidas rep, Wednesday happens.
I mentioned all the things that went down today, and to cap it off, now we have an Alabama staff member resigning.
What does this mean? It’s too early to tell. We can only go by the information we’ve been given thus far, which is that Alabama’s internal review revealed something serious enough to warrant Baker’s resignation.
However, there is an important distinction here: Alabama’s statement does not imply any direct involvement with the FBI corruption case, nor does it imply that any violations were committed.
Beyond that, it’s a mystery.
But what’s not a mystery is that the college basketball landscape is changing by the hour.
Let’s just hope that all these developments wind up creating a brighter future for the sport by weeding out those who choose to go down a slippery path.