Did Duke Commit a Recruiting Violation?

Update below

Duke University is investigating whether head coach Mike Krzyzewski committed a recruiting violation by offering forward Alex Poythress a scholarship during a tournament for his AAU team.

The possible violation came from a CBS Sports article:

On Tuesday night, after the AAU Super Showcase, the 6-foot-7 Northeast (Tenn.) forward picked up an offer from Duke and head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“It felt pretty good,” Poythress said Thursday morning. “It was pretty exciting to talk to Coach K. He said he saw me play at the Super Showcase and Peach Jam, and he liked what he saw.”

Obviously it is way too soon to have a good opinion on this matter, especially since Coach K has said nothing publicly about the matter since Duke announced it was looking into the matter.

For now, to the dismay of all Duke haters, I’m going to have to give Coach K the benefit of the doubt for now. Since the man has never committed a recruiting violation EVER, he deserves that benefit.

The big question that will need to be asked and answered is, when EXACTLY did Alex Poythress receive this offer? Was the tournament officially going on? According to Poythress (via Scout.com), he received the offer over the phone.

Alex received the offer when he spoke to Coach K on the phone after the Super Showcase.

Now again, I’m not clear on the exact rules in this matter. When do these tournaments officially begin and end according to the NCAA. If the player is done playing/performing, does that mean he’s finished? Or does it begin and end while he’s in the host city? Someone more knowledgable than me will have to answer that, although I will continue to look into it.

The fact of the matter is, this is a minor violation. If the coaching staff committed the violation, then I’m confident the school and the NCAA will hand down the proper punishment. Maybe a loss of a scholarship for one season?

*** UPDATE ***
It appears Duke University is seeking clarification from the NCAA. According to ESPN’s Andy Katz, Coach K’s offer came in-between two tournaments.  Alex Poythress’ team as eliminated from one tournament Tuesday, but was set to start in another one Wednesday.

The Georgia Stars were playing in the AAU nationals at the same site but that tournament didn’t start until Wednesday, so technically he wasn’t in a tournament at the time of the phone call. But Duke is checking to see if it doesn’t matter if the recruit is still on the road.

Duke, according to the source, would not be in trouble if the incident is deemed a secondary violation, because it’s seen as a gray area in the rules.

It seems like we’re dealing with a nice shade of grey here.