Photo Of Pelphrey With Recruits Could Be Final Nail In Coffin

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You haven’t made the NCAA Tournament in three years.  Attendance is dwindling.  Some fans are placing ads in newspapers to voice their displeasure with you.  Your squad dropped its last two games to blow a shot at a bye in the SEC Tournament.

If you’re John Pelphrey facing a must-win game against Tennessee tonight, could things be any worse?

Yes.

Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com has posted a photo of Pelphrey smiling beside junior recruits Trey Smith and Archie Goodwin at an off-campus event.

The photo appears to violate NCAA Bylaw 13.1.1.1 which states that coaches can’t make off-campus contact with prospects (or their relatives or guardians) until after July 1st heading into that recruit’s senior year.

Smith told CBSSports.com that his mother took the picture.  “My mom was like, ‘Hey, go get a picture.’  So we snapped a picture.” 

And added to Pelphrey’s misery in doing so.

“As with any potential compliance issue, the institution will gather information and review to determine where a violation has occurred,” said an Arkansas statement this morning.  “If, after a thorough review of the facts, it is determined a violation has occurred, the University of Arkansas will take appropriate action in reporting the information consistent with all established procedures.”

Bottom line: We’re talking about what would have — in pre-internet days — been called a secondary violation.  A quick snapshot of a coach and two players. 

In today’s world, that’s enough to land you in the headlines of a major, national website.

Oh, well.  At least Pelphrey didn’t lie about it.

But it can’t be good for his chances of surviving.


UPDATE — Jerry Tipton of The Lexington Herald-Leader reports that Pelphrey said yesterday that “it takes time” to build a program.  “We’re doing it the right way,” the coach said.  “We have tremendous kids in the program. … We’ve got something we can build on.”