Pitino: Adidas Won Battle to Keep Romeo Langford

[cybergates]

If Twenty Two Vision created a financial windfall for those involved, it hasn’t emerged in their visible spending habits.

Jeanty has not purchased any real estate in Louisville, property records show. The Langford family lives in the same modest rental home in New Albany where it has been since at least 2014, when Tim and his wife, Sabrina, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to court records, because of spiraling credit card and hospital bills.

Tim Langford then was making about $52,000 per year as a warehouse specialist for a beverage company, court records show, while Sabrina Langford made about $25,000 annually as a system coordinator at a hospital. They exited bankruptcy in May 2015, agreeing to pay back more than $21,000 they owed over the next 4½ years.

I think this is the main thing that people who think Tim Langford took money are overlooking. They didn't move to some upscale 500k+ neighborhood like the Bagleys did. Adidas wanted Langford, so they sponsored his AAU team. His AAU team was created by his dad, who oversees Romeo's career (he's had a trainer since elementary school). 

A few days later, Adidas’s league added a new team: Twenty Two Vision, featuring Romeo Langford on the court and Tim Langford as team director. Shoe company sponsorships can reach $100,000 to $150,000, and team directors who limit expenses can pay themselves salaries from those amounts.

Revenue 100 to 150k

According to four current and former Adidas team directors, fielding one 17U team last year — which included travel and lodging at events in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas and Spartanburg, S.C. — probably cost $50,000 to $75,000.

Expenses 50 to 75k

Any amount Adidas paid Twenty Two Vision above that could have been kept as salary for those who managed the team.

Income 25k to 100k

So even if Tim is taking a salary for himself for running the program (which does require real work by the way) it at most is the 100k that some are claiming he's pocketing, and more likely less.

[btownqb]

2 minutes ago, ephul said:

It's an article because a high profile coach in the middle of an FBI investigation is bitching and trying to cover his ass by saying he never did anything wrong and using this as an example. That's why it's an article.

What about the kids that play on Tim's AAU team? Is it fair for those kids to get exposure based on Romeo's attention/public status? They are taking advantage of Romeo's fame, and damnit, it's just not fair.

And then Jim Shannon, don't even get me started on that guy!! Did you know he did interviews because of Romeo!? Even press conferences. How selfish.. he gets to coach the Indiana All Star team this year, he should let someone else that didn't get to coach Romeo. 

[btownqb]

4 minutes ago, cybergates said:

If Twenty Two Vision created a financial windfall for those involved, it hasn’t emerged in their visible spending habits.

Jeanty has not purchased any real estate in Louisville, property records show. The Langford family lives in the same modest rental home in New Albany where it has been since at least 2014, when Tim and his wife, Sabrina, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, according to court records, because of spiraling credit card and hospital bills.

Tim Langford then was making about $52,000 per year as a warehouse specialist for a beverage company, court records show, while Sabrina Langford made about $25,000 annually as a system coordinator at a hospital. They exited bankruptcy in May 2015, agreeing to pay back more than $21,000 they owed over the next 4½ years.

I think this is the main thing that people who think Tim Langford took money are overlooking. They didn't move to some upscale 500k+ neighborhood like the Bagleys did. Adidas wanted Langford, so they sponsored his AAU team. His AAU team was created by his dad, who oversees Romeo's career (he's had a trainer since elementary school). 

A few days later, Adidas’s league added a new team: Twenty Two Vision, featuring Romeo Langford on the court and Tim Langford as team director. Shoe company sponsorships can reach $100,000 to $150,000, and team directors who limit expenses can pay themselves salaries from those amounts.

Revenue 100 to 150k

According to four current and former Adidas team directors, fielding one 17U team last year — which included travel and lodging at events in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Dallas and Spartanburg, S.C. — probably cost $50,000 to $75,000.

Expenses 50 to 75k

Any amount Adidas paid Twenty Two Vision above that could have been kept as salary for those who managed the team.

Income 25k to 100k

So even if Tim is taking a salary for himself for running the program (which does require real work by the way) it at most is the 100k that some are claiming he's pocketing, and more likely less.

I'd be willing to bet it's more than 75K to run an aau team like that. 

[The Daily Hoosier]

3 minutes ago, cybergates said:

They exited bankruptcy in May 2015, agreeing to pay back more than $21,000 they owed over the next 4½ years.

 

This.  This was something else that really pissed me off about that article.  Was it really necessary to publish this bit of almost certainly embarrassing information?

[cybergates]

2 minutes ago, btownqb said:

I'd be willing to bet it's more than 75K to run an aau team like that. 

Not to mention it was a start up so they'd have additional costs of getting things going that could be avoided by a team that knew the ropes and had run one for years.

[btownqb]

2 minutes ago, The Daily Hoosier said:

This.  This was something else that really pissed me off about that article.  Was it really necessary to publish this bit of almost certainly embarrassing information?

Few newspapers or reporters are commendable people. Have you read Bob Kravitz article? I would punch him if I'm Archie or Tim. 

[btownqb]

1 minute ago, cybergates said:

Not to mention it was a start up so they'd have additional costs of getting things going that could be avoided by a team that knew the ropes and had run one for years.

Their food bills alone would be $100 or more if they went any where but McDonald's or TB. 

[KoB2011]

26 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

So your positfion is that doing something perfectly legal is a sign of poor character.  

Not weighing in on this specifically, but I have found legality and morality are very far from being the same thing and are often at odds with each other. 

[cybergates]

3 minutes ago, The Daily Hoosier said:

This.  This was something else that really pissed me off about that article.  Was it really necessary to publish this bit of almost certainly embarrassing information?

Agree. Kravitz and other writers are doing a hack-job off of the Washington Post article and implying IU and Miller had something to do with it. Shows a lack of reading comprehension. The AAU team was started before Miller was at IU and done a few months after he took the job.

[The Daily Hoosier]

1 minute ago, btownqb said:

Few newspapers or reporters are commendable people. Have you read Bob Kravitz article? I would punch him if I'm Archie or Tim. 

I've tried to get through the Kravitz piece (of shit) like 3 times.  It is just awful, 3rd grade logic, nonsense.  He didn't even bother to mention that OG, Morgan, JBJ, Troy, and many others played for non-Adidas AAU programs and yet still ended up at IU. 

[CauseThatsMyDJ]

4 minutes ago, cybergates said:

Not to mention it was a start up so they'd have additional costs of getting things going that could be avoided by a team that knew the ropes and had run one for years.

The point of the article is that they started the AAU team for the sole purpose of pocketing the surplus. They wouldn't have ever started the team without Adidas's commitment.

[Burton Guster]

The thing I don't understand here is why this is seen as sketchy because it's an AAU program when high schools do this all the time. My high school is an under armour school (currently). While we've never produced any high-level D1 athletes, I can guarantee that if we did, nike and adidas would be calling relentlessly to make sure we were happy with our current apparel agreement. Our school has a deal with Coca-cola too, and if we start packing the gym like New Albany has these last few years, I'm pretty sure Pepsi would want to make us an offer we can't refuse.

[cybergates]

Just now, The Daily Hoosier said:

I've tried to get through the Kravitz piece (of shit) like 3 times.  It is just awful, 3rd grade logic, nonsense.  He didn't even bother to mention that OG, Morgan, JBJ, Troy, and many others played for non-Adidas AAU programs and yet still ended up at IU. 

I couldn't read it all the way through either. I kept skipping parts and when I got to the bottom I was really disgusted. @Hoosier10, I'm guessing you liked it?

[cybergates]

1 minute ago, CauseThatsMyDJ said:

The point of the article is that they started the AAU team for the sole purpose of pocketing the surplus. They wouldn't have ever started the team without Adidas's commitment.

I disagree. I think the point of the article is Pitino trying to fack Adidas because he's facked.

[btownqb]

7 minutes ago, CauseThatsMyDJ said:

The point of the article is that they started the AAU team for the sole purpose of pocketing the surplus. They wouldn't have ever started the team without Adidas's commitment.

That's not the reason for them starting the AAU team. They wanted Romeo as the featured guy on his AAU team. 

Indiana Elite has been funded for years by Adidas. Flying the kids everywhere. Paying for everything. It takes serious coins 

[CauseThatsMyDJ]

Just now, btownqb said:

That's not the reason for them starting the AAU team. They wanted Romeo as the featured guy on his AAU team. 

Indiana Elite has been funded for years by Adidas. Flying the kids everywhere. Paying for everything. It takes serious coins 

Sure, that's one possibility. Obviously the Langford's aren't going to admit it if the alternative is true. And they would have a cover story. And that's where some people are coming from on this issue.

[btownqb]

2 minutes ago, CauseThatsMyDJ said:

Sure, that's one possibility. Obviously the Langford's aren't going to admit it if the alternative is true. And they would have a cover story. And that's where some people are coming from on this issue.

If they wanted to profit, why did they wait until now? Why not do it from the start? 

I don't care if they did profit. Tim absolutely should be compensated for running that team. I make money coaching my aau team.. it's a ton of work

[CauseThatsMyDJ]

2 minutes ago, btownqb said:

If they wanted to profit, why did they wait until now? Why not do it from the start? 

I don't care if they did profit. Tim absolutely should be compensated for running that team. I make money coaching my aau team.. it's a ton of work

So now you've gone from "they didn't do it" to "I don't care if they did it." At least you're acknowledging that it's a possibility.

[tdhoosier]

Tim Langford told The Washington Post he didn’t take any pay as team director. I feel like we keep overlooking this. Even though it’d be perfectly legal for him to do so, he claims he didn’t. 

So he’s guilty of using his kid to create an AAU team other athletes in the area will benefit from, play against better competition and raise their profile. And this is slimy?

What am I missing?

[IUaic]

35 minutes ago, hoosier10 said:

Perfectly legal yes.  Does it raise eyebrows-  hell yes. Especially in today’s climate and the ongoing FBI investigation.  The announcement was very preachy and after reading about this, I don’t think Tim Langford was in any place to preach about character. That’s all.

So you are able to assess his character based on reading about him in articles? Interesting.

For some reason, you seem to really have issues with Tim that the rest of us aren't seeing. Even Pitino said in one of his interviews:

"In my opinion we were going to get Langford," Pitino said, adding that his parents "wanted to make sure nobody cheated, nobody did anything wrong concerning their son. And they kept it all totally under wraps."

[btownqb]

1 minute ago, CauseThatsMyDJ said:

So now you've gone from "they didn't do it" to "I don't care if they did it." At least you're acknowledging that it's a possibility.

No. I just offered another take. Please don't twist my words. 

If they wanted to make money off Romeo they would have done it in 8th grade- SO year. 

And either way.. it's not immoral, so there is no reason for any of this. 

[IUaic]

1 minute ago, tdhoosier said:

Tim Langford told The Washington Post he didn’t take any pay as team director. I feel like we keep overlooking this. Even though it’d be perfectly legal for him to do so, he claims he didn’t. 

So he’s guilty of using his kid to create an AAU team other athletes in the area will benefit from, play against better competition and raise their profile. And this is slimy?

What am I missing?

Nothing. Only 1 person is trying to make this out to be something it isn't.

[btownqb]

2 minutes ago, tdhoosier said:

Tim Langford told The Washington Post he didn’t take any pay as team director. I feel like we keep overlooking this. Even though it’d be perfectly legal for him to do so, he claims he didn’t. 

So he’s guilty of using his kid to create an AAU team other athletes in the area will benefit from, play against better competition and raise their profile. And this is slimy?

What am I missing?

Bingo

[CauseThatsMyDJ]

3 minutes ago, btownqb said:

No. I just offered another take. Please don't twist my words. 

If they wanted to make money off Romeo they would have done it in 8th grade- SO year. 

And either way.. it's not immoral, so there is no reason for any of this. 

"I don't care if they did profit. Tim absolutely should be compensated for running that team."

What exactly did I twist?

[btownqb]

4 minutes ago, CauseThatsMyDJ said:

"I don't care if they did profit. Tim absolutely should be compensated for running that team."

What exactly did I twist?

Did I once say he took money? Noooooope. 

Simply said IF.. IF he did, then it's really perfectly fine. Again IF. 

I didn't change any of what I've said.