Today the Wizards will workout several players: Greivis Vasquez, G, Maryland; Matt Bouldin, G, Gonzaga; Darington Hobson, G, New Mexico; Raymar Morgan, F, Michigan State; and Jarvis Varnado, F, Mississippi State.
Derrick Caracter, a forward from UTEP, will also workout and probably has the most compelling story of the bunch. The post below outlines the path taken by Caracter, and his surrounding influences, going from a can’t-miss young phenom to a guy just hoping to have a shot in the NBA.
Derrick Caracter is a rather interesting character, if you will.
A March New York Times piece profiled Caracter as yet another typical product of the corrupt amateur basketball system in the United States. One where talented kids such as Caracter are “discovered” and then showered with free goods and services in exchange for friendship and loyalty. This system enables young players to be less involved in school, also allowing them to easily dismiss the value hard work off the court should professional basketball millions not be the sure thing they are convinced it will be.
One such enabler is Eddie Lau, a past and/or current runner for Dan Fegan. Yes, the Fegan who is also the agent for John Wall and formerly Gilbert Arenas (BTW, Google Dan Fegan and “Brian ****” if you want to read stories about Fegan sending players cash in FedEx envelopes). Caracter was a big time prospect from New Jersey, shuffling between three different high schools, once telling his second coach, “I don’t understand why I have to be here in math class. I don’t need this. I’m just going to go to the N.B.A,” when Lau attached himself to him. Well, actually, Lau attached himself to Caracter’s aunt, who he dated for several convenient years. Go figure.
In 2002 at age 14, Caracter was the first eighth grader ever to be invited to the Nike All-American camp and progressed to where he famously out-played Greg Oden at a Reebok camp in 2005. Several publications ranked Caracter as the number one prospect in the country at various points of his career. So, clearly a calculated move by Lau who likely was trying to invest in the idea that Caracter would be the next Shaquille O’Neal.
Lau is pretty interesting character himself. In 1986, Jayson Williams (the murderer), having graduated from New York City’s Christ the King High School and on his way to play college ball at St. John’s, befriended Lau, described as a pimply-faced Chinese kid, on the playground of P.S. 134. Williams took both Lau his immigrant parents under his wing, even arranging a visit to the dermatologist for Lau.
Lau was actually a decent basketball player himself. In 1992 he and two other players from New York played under coach John Jordan for a team on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, but that triggered an investigation into illegal recruiting, according to a 2005 article by Gregg Doyle of CBS Sports. Lau, according to a piece on Bonesville.net, became the adopted son of Jordan and after a couple years in South Dakota, moved with the coach to Concord First Assembly in North Carolina, where he once scored 70 points in a game.
Today, Jordan claims to practice “Christian outreach” in his basketball coaching career and has had success partially due to his ability to shepherd players from foreign countries to the wonderful American system. Although, Jordan also claims that he’s “not in the business of recruiting” at the high school level. Jordan is currently the athletic director and head basketball coach at Adelphi Christian Academy in South Carolina.
But back to Lau. The connections he made boosted him to one of the most well-known runners (or “street agents”) in the New York City area, serving as a recruiter for the Long Island Panthers, the AAU team of Caracter. Tom Sicignano, who has been associated with AAU team Brooklyn USA, a rival of the Panthers, claimed that Lau once gave one of his players a pager, which was later confiscated by that player’s high school coach. Sicignano, also known as “Ziggy” was, of course, a former manager of the famed Gold Club in Atlanta. He was the one who spilled the beans on the crimes of former Gold Club owner Steve Kaplan and all the NBA players who received “services” at the famed strip club trial in 2001. Ziggy also admitted that he paid players with prostitutes, transported prostitutes across state lines and bribed police officers, along with having connections to the Gambino crime family.
Ironically, when Ziggy felt that the rival Long Island Panthers and coach Gary Charles, along with Eddie Lau, were trying to steal Sebastian Telfair from his program, he said, “I’m not a priest, but compared to these other guys, I’m Cardinal Ziggy O’Connor.” Good one, buddy. Sicignano was more recently seen as a supporter of New Jersey Nets minority owner Bruce Ratner and his efforts to procure Atlantic Yards, where the new home of the Nets, the Barclays Center, is currently being built. Ratner gave Sicignano and Brooklyn USA $10,000 in 2005.
So many back room connections, so much seediness. But back to Lau, just for a second. Lau met Rafer Alston when they were 10 years old and playing on the same church basketball team in Riverside, New York. Lau most recently is said to be Alston’s business manager. Dan Fegan is Alston’s agent. As an aside, Fegan’s relationship with Charlie Villanueva, who also played for Gary Charles and the Long Island Panthers, cost Villanueva six games at the beginning of his career at Connecticut (and we all know how dirty UCONN is) while his eligibility was being reviewed — Villanueva tested the NBA draft waters out of high school in 2003 and there were questions about who paid the expenses involved. Finally, Fegan, lest you forget, is also the agent for Ricky Rubio and Jrue Holiday. The Washington Post’s Michael Lee reported last June that in addition to Fegan not being amicable to Rubio potentially playing with Gilbert Arenas, he also wouldn’t let Holiday work out for the Wizards.
After all the dealings with Dan Fegan’s player funneling system, Caracter is no longer involved with the agent, as Eddie Lau doesn’t date his aunt anymore either. In late March Caracter signed with Happy Walters and Rogue Sports, which also represents Amar’e Stoudemire, DeJuan Blair and VCU’s Larry Sanders. Walters could also be considered a character, of course. Walters began in the entertainment industry and was co-founder of Immortal Records in 1994, which was sold to Sony in 2002. He has been involved with acts such as Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Korn and Incubus. According to his IMDB page, Walters was part inspiration for Adam Sandler’s movie, ‘Happy Gilbmore’, as Sandler was also the best man at Walters’ wedding. Oh, and there’s also that time Walters got in a dispute with Suge Knight. A couple days later, he was allegedly kidnapped by Knight and later resurfaced wandering the streets, incoherent, shaved, naked and covered with cigarette burns. From the hospital, Happy claimed amnesia and refused to say anything about Knight. Fun stuff, huh?
Caracter, as you probably know, struggled mightily in college under Rick Pitino at Louisville with attitude, academic and weight issues. He dealt with suspensions and public call-outs by his coach. By the way, part of the reason Caracter ended up at Louisville in the first place is because of assistant Steve Masiello’s relationship with Eddie Lau. Masiello has strong connections in New York, hailing from White Plains, and served as an assistant at Manhattan prior to Louisville. He also played for Pitino at Kentucky. Oh yea, Masiello is connected to a 2010 Kentucky Derby ticket scam … another go figure.
After two seasons at Louisville which brought into question whether Caracter would ever be an NBA player, he was told it would be best to transfer. Caracter did flirt with the NBA, irking many Cardinal faithful by saying he would declare for the 2008 NBA draft before the final game of the season against Tennessee. Instead, he pulled out of the Orlando pre-draft camp, sat out the 2008-09 season, and transferred to the University of Texas El-Paso after almost going to Long Beach State.
By several accounts, Caracter flipped a 180 at UTEP, where he also evidently paid his own way. His coach, Tony Barbee (who is now the head coach at Auburn) claimed Caracter lost his laziness and UTEP’s success had some calling Caracter one of the feel-good stories of the college basketball season. The Miners went 24-5 during the regular season, lost to Houston in the Conference USA tournament final, but earned an at-large bid in the 2010 NCAA tournament, losing to 5-seed Butler in the first round. Caracter was second on the team in scoring at 14.1 per and first in rebounding with 8.1 per game. He was named Second Team All-Conference USA and first team All-District by the NABC.
Since, Caracter has been working out at the IMG Academy in Florida where he reportedly shed 30 pounds. In Chicago, he impressed ESPN.com’s Chad Ford, who wrote, “He was the best I’ve ever seen him and certainly helped his draft stock in the process.” And if pro-basketball doesn’t work out, Caracter evidently has a plan B ready … joining the Navy.
Sharing this post from Truth About It.net
Other reads from Truth About It:
- LINKS: John Wall, John Wall, John Wall, John Wall
- Goodnight Irene: How The 2010 NBA Draft Lottery Was Won
- Mr. Personality: Omar Samhan’s Wizards Pre-Draft Workout Interview
- Wizards Pre-Draft Workouts: The Book on Omar Samhan
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