I still get upset when current & retired pro athletes admit years after the fact to cheating in college or taking some kind of money while they were there. I don’t mind the fact they did it personally, but I do mind the fact that their admissions cause no repercussions for themselves, but cause big issues for current and soon to be athletes at those schools. Charles Barkley admitted in an upcoming interview that he took money from agents multiple times while he was at Auburn, as much as $20,000 in one shot. If someone had known this at the time Barkley would of had alot of problems, but he was able to hide it. I do like the spin Barkley is trying to put on it with his comments though. Hit the jump.
@IamJoeSports
Here is the excerpt from the interview:
In an upcoming interview set to air this weekend, basketball legend Charles Barkley claims he accepted money from agents during his playing days at Auburn.
“I got some cash from agents,” Barkley says on the Season 5 premiere of In Depth with Graham Bensigner, which will air Saturday. “I’ve talked to the NCAA. I think that should be legal. I want some money too, everybody else is making money. I want to go on dates. I want to go buy myself some new suits. I want to buy myself some new sneakers, and I paid the agents back.”
Barkley played at Auburn for three seasons from 1981 to 1984. He skipped his senior season to enter the NBA Draft and went on to become one of the greatest basketball players in NBA history.
If he refused money from agents while at Auburn, Barkley says he likely would have left for the NBA after his freshman season.
“Most of these kids leave school for money,” he said. “What’s wrong with an agent letting me borrow some money, so I can give it to my mom and do some stuff I want to do? He’s making me stay in school by lending me money. The bank’s going to charge me interest. He’s helping me. I understand (he wants to represent me professionally) but I think more kids would stay in school.
“I think the most I took was $20,000. It made me stay in school another year. $20,000 is not a lot of money, but I was able to do some stuff for my mother and grandmother and I had some spending money. I’m cool. I don’t have to go into the real world of the NBA after one college season.”
According to Barkley, Auburn’s athletic department discouraged him from taking “serious classes,” fearing he could flunk them and become academically ineligible. He believes the college athletic system is “broken” and there is more cheating in recent years because more money is at stake.
Barkley actually makes quite a bit of sense with his view on this, but indirectly even though it’s 30 years later, he may of caused Auburn some problems because the NCAA is petty like that.
