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Former West Virginia quarterback and Daphne High School football star Pat White has interjected himself into the "controversy" surrounding Alabama running back Derrick Henry and his new, lavish-looking car, "Fiona."
The issue arose Monday when Henry posted a picture of himself and Fiona on Instagram, and although there is no evidence he received any sort of impermissible benefit, speculation began to run rampant about how an unpaid college athlete could afford something so nice:
On Thursday, White commented on the story on his Facebook page, telling his followers (and the world) to "Stop pretending like you didn't know the crimson tide has been doing this for years. Still glad I turned down a Corvette to become a mountaineer."
There are a few issues with White's account of his recruitment. For one, his Rivals.com profile does not indicate that he was even offered a scholarship by Alabama when he came out of high school in 2004.
Although White was a one-time LSU commit and held an offer from Auburn, Alabama's most hated rival, it seems like the Tide would have at least offered the permissible free education before it moved onto the impermissible luxury vehicle. Right?
Online recruiting services were not back then what they are today, however, so it's possible Rivals just got that wrong. More dubious is that White was "just" a 3-star athlete, and even though Alabama, then coached by Mike Shula, did not have the same recruiting standards in 2004 as it does in 2014, it seems unlikely that it would have broken the rules to land a non-blue-chip prospect with no true position.
Still, White's comments are at least worth noting. Whether Henry did something wrong will likely never been known for sure, but now that it's gone viral, it's something folks are going to talk about.
And that's a discussion that no compliance department envies.
Which means, as Clay Travis of Fox Sports writes, that the lesson to be learned here is one that should really be more familiar:
Regardless, the lesson, as always, for college football players, don't post your new cars on Instagram. Sure, you may deserve those cars -- even if they violate NCAA rules -- given how much you're making the school, but even if the cars are entirely purchased with your own money no one is going to believe that. Not even former top football recruits from Alabama.
Alabama opens its 2014 season on Aug. 30 with a neutral-field game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. It's opponent? You guessed it.
The West Virginia Mountaineers.
Former West Virginia quarterback and Daphne High School football star Pat White has interjected himself into the "controversy" surrounding Alabama running back Derrick Henry and his new, lavish-looking car, "Fiona."
The issue arose Monday when Henry posted a picture of himself and Fiona on Instagram, and although there is no evidence he received any sort of impermissible benefit, speculation began to run rampant about how an unpaid college athlete could afford something so nice:
On Thursday, White commented on the story on his Facebook page, telling his followers (and the world) to "Stop pretending like you didn't know the crimson tide has been doing this for years. Still glad I turned down a Corvette to become a mountaineer."
There are a few issues with White's account of his recruitment. For one, his Rivals.com profile does not indicate that he was even offered a scholarship by Alabama when he came out of high school in 2004.
Although White was a one-time LSU commit and held an offer from Auburn, Alabama's most hated rival, it seems like the Tide would have at least offered the permissible free education before it moved onto the impermissible luxury vehicle. Right?
Online recruiting services were not back then what they are today, however, so it's possible Rivals just got that wrong. More dubious is that White was "just" a 3-star athlete, and even though Alabama, then coached by Mike Shula, did not have the same recruiting standards in 2004 as it does in 2014, it seems unlikely that it would have broken the rules to land a non-blue-chip prospect with no true position.
Still, White's comments are at least worth noting. Whether Henry did something wrong will likely never been known for sure, but now that it's gone viral, it's something folks are going to talk about.
And that's a discussion that no compliance department envies.
Which means, as Clay Travis of Fox Sports writes, that the lesson to be learned here is one that should really be more familiar:
Regardless, the lesson, as always, for college football players, don't post your new cars on Instagram. Sure, you may deserve those cars -- even if they violate NCAA rules -- given how much you're making the school, but even if the cars are entirely purchased with your own money no one is going to believe that. Not even former top football recruits from Alabama.
Alabama opens its 2014 season on Aug. 30 with a neutral-field game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. It's opponent? You guessed it.
The West Virginia Mountaineers.
