Questionable recruiting tactics put Baylor in spotlight

"You can like Bob Knight or not like Bob Knight, but you don't recruit like that against Coach Knight out of respect for what he's done," said one coach who recruits against Baylor and, like all others in this column, spoke to CBS SportsLine.com on the condition of anonymity. "Coach Knight has almost won as many national titles (three) as Baylor won league games (four) last year. Coach Knight. Dean Smith. Coach K. You just don't do this stuff with those guys."

Three separate coaching staffs featuring multiple sources have told CBS SportsLine.com throughout the summer that Baylor has repeatedly engaged in so-called negative recruiting, a term used to describe the actions of a school when it opts to highlight other program's shortcomings in an attempt to make itself look better.

To be clear, it's not cheating or a violation of any NCAA rule. Still, most believe some technically legal tactics are over the line, and in addition to the story about the anti-Knight/anti-Gillispie flyer, a couple of other questionable methods were revealed to CBS SportsLine.com. They are:

• Two individual sources detailed a story of how the Baylor staff informed Class of 2006 standout Dwight Lewis' family that it would be unwise to attend Kansas because the Jayhawks have the lowest graduation rate in the Big 12. Problem is, Kansas doesn't have the lowest graduation rate in the Big 12. "The irony is that one of the Baylor assistants, Jerome Tang, doesn't even have his bachelor's degree," one coach said. "And they're talking about graduation rates?" Lewis ultimately de-committed from Kansas. He signed with Southern California.
• Three individual sources detailed a story of how the Baylor staff compiled a package of newspaper reports featuring off-the-court problems surrounding the Memphis program. The sources said Baylor then handed the packet to the family of Randolph, a Class of 2007 star whom Memphis was pursuing. "It wasn't the actual newspaper articles, it was like they had typed the text from the articles into a packet," said one coach who has seen the packet. "That hurt Memphis with the kid." Randolph remains uncommitted, though it's worth noting he is no longer considering Memphis.

In a pair of interviews last week, CBS SportsLine.com relayed these allegations to Drew. To his credit, the fourth-year Baylor coach took responsibility for two of the charges, though he denied his staff had anything to do with the packet featuring anti-Memphis articles.

As for the flyer, Drew said it was mailed without his knowledge, but that when he learned of its contents he quickly pulled it from circulation and personally apologized to Knight and Gillispie. As for the Kansas graduation rate snafu, Drew said his staff simply had bad information.

"If you ever cross that line in recruiting, then just like in anything in life you try to learn from it," Drew said. "If you make a mistake, you apologize, learn from it and go on. So in the past have we probably sent something out that we shouldn't have sent out? Absolutely. But have we apologized and fessed-up to it? Absolutely. And have we sent the same thing out again? No. You live and you learn."

The tricky part in all this is trying to establish the line. Everyone agrees that if you cross it you've gone too far. But where is the line? And is it in the same place for everybody? Or is it different for a school like Baylor, which remains on probation because of multiple violations under former coach Dave Bliss that were uncovered following the 2003 shooting death of Patrick Dennehy by teammate Carlton Dotson?

Either way, it's a blurry line, for sure. A quick game of Negative Recruiting or Not Negative Recruiting -- think of it like Deal or No Deal -- should prove that much.

Scenario No. 1: School X explains how it ranks 13th in the nation in graduation rates while pointing out that School Y ranks 258th. Is that negative recruiting?

Scenario No. 2: School X explains how it plays 15 games on national television while pointing out that School Y only plays four. Is that negative recruiting?

Scenario No. 3: School X explains how it hasn't had a player arrested or suspended from the team in four seasons while pointing out that School Y had three players arrested last season. Is that negative recruiting?

Ask coaches, and most would agree the first and third statements are negative recruiting, but that the second statement is OK. Why? Well, that's difficult to decipher assuming all three statements are factual, and so what is a blurry line remains blurry even for those with 20-20 vision on their way to a 20-win season.

What some people call fair, others call unfair.

What some people call creative, others call creepy.

The only thing anybody seems to agree on?

Don't cross out Bobby Knight.

"That's over the line," one coach said. "You don't curse the Pope."