Oseye Gaddy, the mother of Bellarmine Prep basketball standout Abdul Gaddy, was admittedly nervous when she heard that her company CEO David Bronczek was on the phone.
But after a 10-minute conversation about Abdul, the only one in trouble is the Memphis basketball program.
You see Bronczek, the FedEx Express president and CEO, is a well-known Memphis booster. And not just any booster, it would seem.
Bronczek belongs to the exclusive 32-member Ambassador’s Athletic Foundation, in which each member has donated at least $500,000 to the Memphis program and many have given in excess of $1 million.
Heck, Memphis plays in the FedEx Forum.
Anyways as a booster, Bronczek is prohibited by rule 13.1.3.5.1 in the NCAA Division I Manual “from making telephonic communications with a prospective student-athlete or the prospective student-athlete’s relatives or legal guardians.”
Oseye said the phone call came just days after being contacted by Coach John Calipari, who is actively recruiting Abdul. The senior-to-be is ranked as the second-best point guard in the Class of 2009 and the ninth-best player overall by Scout.com.
Both the NCAA and Memphis, the NCAA runners-up from last season, are investigating the issue. Bronczek has already apologized through company P.R., claiming he didn’t know the rules.
According to NCAA rules this one mistake could make Gaddy ineligible for Memphis.
In case you forgot, Gaddy had initially committed to Arizona almost a year ago, but reopened his recruitment in May.
What are your thoughts on the news?