An interesting college basketball lesson was learned at the expense of Cincinnati assistant coach Andy Kennedy last week:

You can run a negative recruiting campaign capable of making Karl Rove and James Carville blush. You can work overtime planting seeds of doubt about the competition in the minds of future hoops stars. You can do everything but dog-cuss an opposing head coach in a young man's living room.

Just don't put it in writing.

In America's most hypocritical sport, this is a key distinction. The unspoken game plan apparently goes like this: At least give the appearance of civility and sportsmanship on the recruiting trail. You don't have to live it, but don't give anyone incontrovertible evidence that you're not.

	John Chaney called Cincinnati's recruiting tactics "scathing, malicious and despicable."

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised. This is, after all, college basketball, where the National Association of Basketball Coaches passes a resolution requesting that its members be referred to as "teacher-coach" -- despite the fact graduation rates fall well below rebounding stats across the board in the sport. This is the sport where the first thing every shady recruiter learns is to deal in cash and avoid leaving a paper trail.

Kennedy didn't break any rules in recruiting 6-foot-11 center Keith Butler. But he left a pyrotechnic paper trail trashing other coaches who were trying to land the coveted big man from Philadelphia.

On Nov. 5, Kennedy faxed Butler's high school a four-page, hand-written letter on Cincinnati letterhead that did far more than state why he should sign with the Bearcats. It stated why he shouldn't sign with any of the other schools he was considering.

According to Philadelphia newspaper reports, the fax takes shots at Temple (which won Butler's commitment three days later), Illinois, Miami and North Carolina. The lowlights, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Temple: Kennedy writes, "John Chaney ... Great Coach!" Then states, "69 years old = How much longer???" Later he questions Chaney's ability to put big men in the NBA, and says that current center Kevin Lyde "has underachieved/both physically and statistically. ... How good would he be at Cincy??? Lotto??"

Illinois: The fax referred to coach Bill Self as a "good guy/coach," but then asks, "How many 'Pros' has he recruited or developed???"

Miami: The note asked the same question about pro development of Hurricanes coach Perry Clark, then said, "Miami would be a Great choice ... If you were Playing Football!!"

North Carolina: Kennedy doubly dissed coach Matt Doherty, misspelling his name and questioning his ability: "M. Doughertty???"

The letter left Chaney howling -- and it wasn't the excessive punctuation marks that set him off. He termed it "scathing, malicious and despicable," and termed Cincinnati "a university that is out of control and out of touch with ethical behavior." (Note that Temple and Cincy have been at each other's throats since last year, when the Bearcats bailed out of a scheduled game and the Owls sent them a bill for $82,000 in game-related expenses.) But Chaney quickly jumped off the war path after Cincinnati head coach Bob Huggins called him, apologized, and said he would deal with the situation.

Kennedy has issued an apology, but Huggins -- who denies knowing anything about the letter prior to it being sent by Kennedy -- hasn't commented publicly on the matter since it happened. Meanwhile, a markedly more mellow Chaney brought it down to the brass tacks of appearance vs. reality: Just don't put your negative recruiting in black and white.

Say what you want, just don't get caught saying it.

The first coach to say negative recruiting doesn't happen is the first coach to say Santa Claus is coming to town.

"I think there's a lot of negative recruiting going on," outgoing Texas Christian coach Billy Tubbs said.

However, Tubbs termed using a coach's age or imminent retirement status "factual recruiting. I don't consider that negative recruiting." He said it was used against him several times in recent years, as reports of his demise at TCU swirled constantly.

"Coaches are the worst as far as rumors go," Tubbs said. "That's a fact of life. They create their own rumors. The rumor mill is tremendous in the coaching circus, or circuit."

Yes, he really said "circus." Might've meant it, too.

"Hey," Tubbs continued. "We're worse than a bunch of old ladies."

Louisville coach Rick Pitino -- who helped set this entire fandango in motion when he swiped Cincinnati assistant Mick Cronin, creating the vacancy Huggins filled by swiping Kennedy from UAB -- likened it to survival on Wall Street.

"Whether you're at Paine Webber or Goldman Sachs, they're going to promote their own program but also knock others, because they're trying to get business," Pitino said. "It's that was in any competitive endeavor."

Nevertheless, Pitino said he's "not a big believer in talking about other schools, because I think you show weakness." While saying he wasn't fully aware of the Cincinnati-Temple squabble, Pitino said that, in general terms, putting negative recruiting in writing is "probably a mistake, because it can come back to haunt you."

Consider Andy Kennedy and Cincinnati haunted. And consider his faxing privileges revoked until further notice.

Games of the Week

Florida at South Florida Saturday Huge home game for the Bulls, who are rolling toward recognition but searching for a breakthrough victory. This certainly would be it, against an in-state rival with a top-five ranking and all the buzz that South Florida currently lacks. Watch how smallish but savvy Bulls point guard Reggie Kohn handles the Florida pressure, and how they deal with Udonis Haslem inside. North Carolina at Kentucky Saturday Every other December since the Earth cooled, this would be one of the marquee games of the year. With the Tar Heels wobbling out to a 1-3 start that is somewhat diminished, but don't sell the Wildcats on the danger of a hurting underdog. Last year a 1-3 Kentucky team limped into Chapel Hill and smoked the Heels by 17.

Hurting Hilltoppers
There are bad weeks, and then there is what Western Kentucky has endured the past seven days.

After cracking the Top 20 with a 4-0 start, the Hilltoppers lost in double overtime last Tuesday at Creighton. Then they lost All-American center Chris Marcus for 4-6 weeks to a stress fracture in his ankle. Then they lost without Marcus to Vanderbilt in Nashville, 80-75.

The biggest loss is the Marcus, of course. But coach Dennis Felton is trying to convince his players that it's only a flesh wound.

"The biggest adjustment the players have to make is in their minds," he said after the Vandy game, which Western came very close to winning even while shorthanded. That impressed Commodores coach Kevin Stallings.

"I don't want to call them great," he said. "But obviously when they get the big guy back they're going to be a very good team."

In the meantime, Western becomes an average-sized Sun Belt Conference team. The good news is that other players will be forced to step up in Marcus' absence, starting with forwards Nate Williams (13 points and seven rebounds against Vandy) and David Boyden (17 points).

"Any team would miss their All-American," Boyden said. "No other big man does what he does overall. That being said, this is going to make us stronger."

That could well be. But we won't know for sure until January, when Marcus comes back.

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