To the editor:

I personally like Tom Keegan, but his March 23 column about Coach Huggins demonstrates that Tom has a blind spot when it comes to KU. Tom writes: “The inexorable march of slime that is college basketball recruiting has reached such depths that a pair of high school stars now are making it known the school that hires Bob Huggins, reportedly Kansas State, gets them as a bonus.”

Apparently Tom has forgotten that KU gave Mario Chalmers’ dad (a high school coach) the high-paying job of director of basketball operations. Similarly in the mid-1980s KU gave Danny Manning’s dad a job as assistant basketball coach. This recruiting practice is far more “slimy” than unrelated high school players expressing their desire to play for Coach Huggins.

As a former college basketball player, I know that most recruits play for the coach that best fits their style of play and helps achieve their goal of getting to the NBA.

Rather than worrying about Ohio kids wanting to play for Coach Huggins, as a longtime KU fan and Lawrence businessman, I am more concerned about unaffordable basketball tickets and football games being moved to Arrowhead Stadium. This extra money has not improved our programs, but in fact has only helped pay higher salaries within the athletic department.

Ed White,

Lawrence