Baylor in hot water over Perea recruitment

This one comes from our friend Jeff Goodman at FoxSports.com. According to this report, Baylor assistant coach Mark Morefield “sent dozens of texts to Hanner Perea’s AAU and high school coaches in July while they were coaching events,” a violation of NCAA rules. The coach in question wasn’t supposed to be recruiting off-campus at the time anyway, a restriction placed upon him by the university for “previous texting infractions.”

The most damning part of the report, at least in the realm of public opinion, might be this:

Morefield also sent a text to LaLumiere coach Alan Huss, which was obtained by FOXSports.com, saying that if Perea didn’t go to Baylor, he wouldn’t be back in the United States.

“I guarantee u if he does [commit to another school] he will be in Colombia for the spring and summer and next year. Don’t forget it,” the text said.

You might recall Baylor coach Scott Drew, who ran the family business as coach at Valparaiso for one year before taking over the troubled program in Waco in 2003. He inherited a team in tatters after the murder of one teammate by another.

Since his arrival, Drew has managed to rebuild the Bears, and last year took them all the way to the Elite Eight, led by Ekpe Udoh, Tweety Carter and LaceDarius Dunn. The last of those was expected to lead Baylor this season, but his status right now is rather unclear following a domestic violence incident.

Perea, a touted and talented recruit in the 2012 class, has listed Indiana and Baylor as his top two schools. He enrolled at LaPorte (Ind.) La Lumiere this fall, and has played his AAU basketball in the Indiana Elite program since coming to the United States.

Filed to: Hanner Perea, Scott Drew