Prisbell Came Through With the AAU Story, But It's Not What Was Expected

Remember when I questioned Eric Prisbell for not coming through with his investigative AAU story on time? Well, you guys set me straight (he did too) and I changed my tune, patiently waiting for part one to hit.

Oh, it did. And guess who it focused on? Mychal ****ing Parker. And guess who one of the villains is? Maryland.

Parker also attended two elite camps this summer, at Virginia and Maryland. [Supposed 22-year old "handler" Joe] Davis transported Parker to both camps and worked as an instructor at Maryland's. Davis, who had no previous coaching experience at any level, "was helping [assistant coach Chuck] Driesell with the shooting drills," Parker said.

According to a source familiar with Parker's recruitment, Davis called Virginia Tech assistant James Johnson in June and said he would have Parker attend the Hokies' elite camp if Virginia Tech paid Davis $500 to be a camp instructor. Virginia Tech declined and is no longer recruiting Parker, who did not attend the school's elite camp.

[Note: That doesn't seem bad when you see it in this context (well, the second part does) but really, read the whole thing (though I have trouble giving them hits for this).]

Wait, what? Seriously? Mychal Parker? You're targeting a guy who's being driven around a guy who's been a family friend for 10 years? A guy originally from North Carolina who plays for an AAU team in Ohio? Not a local guy; not a guy who's all that highly touted or well-known; not a guy that calls known handler Worldwide Wes "Uncle Wes" (you know who you are). Mychal Parker.

I'm not saying there's no story here. There very well may be. There certainly seems to be some inklings of it. But this story was done as a way to show that the Post wasn't anti-Maryland, or at least that was part of the reasoning. I mean, it was "announced" just days after the hellstorm raised by Terp fans over Prisbell's articles, and really as a way to satiate the angry fans; it only makes sense that it had something to do with it.

You'd think that, if that's what they were trying to show, they wouldn't pick a guy who favors Maryland and who's being heavily recruited by Marlyand. Don't get me wrong - it's not like he's already playing here, but we're heavily involved. There's literally dozens, if not more, guys exactly like Parker. Why pick him? No local tie. Not a well-known guy.

If you couldn't tell, I'm frustrated right now. Prisbell has done now three total "investigative" pieces for the Post. All three of them were focused on Maryland, and none have been in a positive light. Georgetown sits in the same city, connected as hell with Nike, but nothing has happened with them. The New York Times broke a story about how GTown recruited a 1.33 GPA player - not the Post.

I'm trying to seem unbiased here, so I apologize if I cross that line, but this just seems irrational. It doesn't make sense for a major paper to seem biased like this, especially in something like sports, but this doesn't add up, and it's frustrating.