The athletic director of the University of Tennessee, Phil Fulmer, has retired as the university announced its decision to terminate the head football coach Jeremy Pruitt. The cause for all this is the aftermath of an internal investigation that revealed the program committed several Level I and Level II recruiting violations. Apparently, the cheating was not a very well kept secret, as Mark Stoops, the head coach of the University of Kentucky’s football team, said he was not surprised to learn about Tennessee’s cheating.

Mark Stoops Said He Was Grateful That the Cheating Was Revealed

Although Mark Stoops remarked he had to be careful in his response, he stated that he definitely saw that the recruiting violations were coming to light. In his interview with Kentucky Sports Radio, Stoops said he was grateful that the whole thing came to light and was not at all surprised to find out about it.

The Tennessee Volunteers Were Handing Recruits Cash In McDonald’s Bags

Mark Stoops did not take the opportunity to badmouth the Tennessee Volunteers about the cheating, although it was probably one of the sloppiest in college athletics history. American sportscaster Dan Patrick shared that Tennessee assistant coaches were putting money into McDonald’s bags and giving them to the recruits who came on campus. Apparently, they were not even trying to hide it.

Now, the Tennessee Volunteers are looking for ways to replace the vacated head coach place. Dan Patrick recommended Jason Witten in his Twitter post, and one other name that has reportedly been discussed was Josh Heupel. Danny White, the new Tennessee athletic director, has drastically changed the way the Volunteers search for new people, including the new head coaching search. White will probably try to land a big name as hard as possible in order to energize both the rank-and-file and the donors of the team. With White behind at the wheel, it looks like the Tennessee Volunteers would sustain yet another rebuilding period.

Recently, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t think that LeBron James intentionally struck Isaiah Stewart’s face.

In a recent game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Detroit Pistons, James and Stewart battled for position when trying to get a rebound. Unfortunately, things took an ugly turn when LeBron swung his left hand and struck Isaiah in the face.

The Rebound Battle Led to a Fracas on the Court

Stewart wasn’t pleased with what had happened and attempted to confront James in an effort to get an explanation. This caused a scuffle on the court, which was quickly put to an end by the referees and other players.

When asked to comment about the fracas, Shaquille O’Neal said that he doesn’t think LeBron had any malicious intent toward his opponent. He added that James has been in the NBA for more than 17 years and that he has never been the kind of player who does something like that on purpose. He also said that Stewart’s reaction was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Fans Agreed With Shaquille O’Neal’s Comments

Shaq’s comments about the Lakers star rapidly gained attention on social media. The immediate response from most fans was to agree with O’Neal’s opinion on the matter.

Days after the incident, Frank Vogel, the Lakers head coach, made it clear that he supports his player and confirmed that LeBron’s actions were unintentional. He said that it was an unfortunate turn of events and that everybody is aware that James is one of the classiest players in the league who always plays the game the right way.

After their altercation, Lebron received a one-game suspension, while Isaiah got a two-game suspension. This only proves that NBA players, despite being world-class competitors, can also sometimes lose control of their emotions and display unsportsmanlike conduct. Something that Shaquille O’Neal understands perfectly.