David Salinas May Have NCAA's Attention, Says Conflicting Report

Late Tuesday night, ESPN's Andy Katz cited a source who said that the NCAA did not intend to launch a formal investigation into fraud allegations against David Salinas, a Texas financial planner who was also an AAU coach and benefactor with close financial ties to many top college coaches.

But a Houston television station now reports that the NCAA is looking into Salinas' relationships with its coaches.

[Former Houston-area high-school player Moses Malone Jr.] said he did not tell the NCAA investigator anything specific, but he said she asked him a lot of questions, including if he would agree to meet in-person and Malone declined.

"She wanted to know was I swayed or steered in anyway with my recruiting," Malone said. "What was his involvement in my recruitment at the University of Houston, his association with (University of Houston assistant) Coach (Alvin) Brooks?"

We'll see whether the NCAA does, in fact, launch a formal investigation, but to hear Malone tell it, it certainly sounds like it's interested in what Salinas was up to. And given the amount of money involved (Salinas is supposed to have bilked various college coaches for about $8 million), the results of any formal investigation should be noteworthy indeed.

On Sunday, Salinas was found dead, the result of an apparent suicide.

For more on the Salinas story, keep track of this storystream.