Recruiting-101 Book Review: Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth

While there may not be all that many recruiting books published, I think one thing that I can do is provide reviews for the ones that I have read. This book, Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth, takes a look at the problems with AAU and youth basketball. Obviously the first person that I would recommend this book to is basketball fans who enjoy learning more about the shady side of the recruiting process.

The authors, Dan Wetzel and Don Yaeger, do a nice job of showing how ugly things can get. These are the stories that people hear about the dark side of recruiting and it is pretty obvious that it is there. The authors laid a lot of the blame on the shoe companies. Here is more of a breakdown of other parts of the book.

A Walk through Sole Influence: Basketball, Corporate Greed, and the Corruption of America’s Youth:

Unlike Mike
The very first talks in depth about Kobe Bryant, who was recently named NBA MVP this season. But this was about his time when he was going into the NBA Draft and had Nike and adidas trying hard to sign him. The reason that these shoe companies were showing him so much interest is that they are always trying hard to find the next Michael Jordan. Their grass root programs that work with AAU teams want to have the top players in their gear and the companies are willing to sponsor these teams because of that.

Shoes to Fill
When Reebok signed Shaquille O’Neal in 1992 to a shoe contract, they thought it was the second coming of Michael Jordan. The only problem is that no one aspires to be a center. It is guards who are skilled, can dunk, and shoot the ball. They set the trend and Reebok did not renew their contract with O’Neal after it expired a few years later. This chapter also touched on the history of Nike and how Phil Knight grew his company over time.

Sonny and George
A big part of the blame for the AAU mess that we currently have is because of George Raveling and Sonny Vaccaro. While they were best friends in the 80s, they are not bitter rivals who do not speak with one another. They currently work in the same position but Raveling is at Nike and Vaccaro is at adidas. The reason their relationship seemed to turn sour was over a recruit that did not go to USC with Raveling and instead won a national title at UCLA.

This Little Piggie Went to Nike
If you are looking for a bad AAU story, their talk of Myron Piggie is it. This AAU coach was arrested for selling cocaine and shooting at a police officer. Piggie downplayed the entire incident but did admit to having drug problems. But the whole story that actually happened, according to court records, is a lot worse than he made it out to be. Piggie was the coach of one of the top AAU teams in Kansas City after this time. What this chapter stresses is that lack of background checks by AAU basketball and Nike, who was paying to sponsor his team.

Romancing the Stone
People expect to see the ugly AAU stories in big cities. But that is not always the case. It even affected Huntsville, Alabama where Marvin Stone played. This 6-foot-10 bigman was skilled and played for multiple AAU teams during his time. He ended up getting bought out before signing with Kentucky. It is not much of a surprise that he never ended up doing much professionally because he was handed everything as a kid.

Red, White, and Swoosh
Nike was able to put together the Nike Hoops Summit and it created about as many problems as possible. They were sued from stealing the idea from someone else and picking only Nike players. Many of the people involved, who have an affiliation to Nike, are TV personalities like Billy Packer. Do you think he has a bias when he is on television towards Nike? It is definitely something to think about.

Wesley Wilson
Prep school battles happen more than you would think and this was the case with Wilson. He skipped summer courses in order to go play on the AAU circuit when he needed them to quality after high school. But because he played well on the AAU circuit in early spring, Wilson ended up not being able to go to a prep school that wore adidas. They were not sponsored by them, just wore their shoes. He ended up going to a prep school that had a Nike affiliation. This was not a coincidence either.

Mt. Zion
Steve Smith (Head coach at Mt. Zion) and Alvis Smith were the ones who were able to find Tracy McGrady and help him leave for the NBA draft after high school. But the writers talk more about stories where Mt. Zion traps outstanding basketball players to not be able to leave their program. Some were able to get and others not so much. If these stories are true, this program is as dirty as it comes. But then again, they don’t have any rules for prep schools.

Be Like ‘Mique
I will be honest in that I am not sure I believe this chapter much, especially now, but it discussed the importance of Chamique Holdsclaw. This former Tennessee basketball player was a trend setter when it comes to women’s basketball and some felt she would be the female version of Michael Jordan. Again, I don’t think it ended that way.

Recruiting Rush
This was one of my favorite chapters as it followed the recruiting of Jaron Rush. He had committed to Kansas but decided that he would sign in the spring because his mother would not sign the Letter of Intent. Because a booster had taken him in almost as a son, the NCAA basically said that Rush could not sign with the Jayhawks. He ended up signing with UCLA, left too early in his college career, and has traveled far and wide playing professional ball. A very interesting note about this is that his youngest brother, Brandon, played an important role in their national championship this season.

“Buy Your Own Goddamn Shoes”
Elvert Perry is an AAU coach and seems to be one of the ones that are honest. Jim Delany runs the Big 10 conference. Delaney feels that something must be done about the mess that is involved with the AAU circuit. Perry blames Delany and coaches for signing contracts with shoe companies. He feels that a big part of the problem is because of that.

The Summer Season
The writers follow around D.C. Assault, one of the top AAU teams in the country. This is an interesting look at their coach, their players, and the type of game that they play. It should not come as a huge surprise but many of their top players come from single parent families and some even live with their grandparents. Lot a lot of AAU coaches, their head coach, Curtis Malone, wants to be a college coach someday.

The Best Billboards Money can Buy
Instead of buying billboards at high schools, shoe companies will pay schools to wear their jerseys. The reason that they do this is if fans see them wearing Nike or adidas, they may be more prone to purchasing them. There is an interesting story about Miami Senior High and how they cheated to win State titles. The head coach that got fired, Frank Martin, is the head coach at Kansas State.

Free Speech For Sale
Going back to college, many of the shoe companies have contracts that colleges sign in order to put their brand on all of their athletes. But a portion of the contract has a clause that says all employees and students of the university can not say any negative remarks about their product. I guess they are not worried about freedom of speech.

Standing Tall
Marcus Taylor is the focus in this chapter. For those that remember him, he was an outstanding point guard from Michigan who turned down the opportunity to play AAU basketball in order to work out on his own. Few players make this same decision. The bad news for Taylor is that he went to Michigan State, left after his freshman year for the NBA, and has not been heard from since. Taylor actually is playing in the NBA D League and hopes to get a shot at the big level.

Taking Responsibility for This Mess
So who is responsible for this mess? Is it the shoe companies? AAU coaches? College coaches? It sounds like the shoe companies are taking some of the blame but they don’t plan to stop their grass roots program until the other does. And that basically will not be happening anytime soon. It just seems to get worse.

Overall I thought this was a very interesting book. If you are interested in basketball and recruiting, it is worth reading. I normally take a while to finish books and I plowed through this is about three days. What made this book interesting is the fact that it was published in 2000, which means the players that they talked about have either gone on to standout or have fallen off the map. Many of the spoiled players they talked about did not end up doing well. Click here to see more about the book on Amazon.