NCAA Investigating David Salinas' Relationships With College Coaches, But Not Officially

There have been conflicting reports about whether the NCAA was interested in the case of David Salinas, a Houston AAU program founder who apparently committed suicide after running a Ponzi scheme that involved a number of college basketball coaches. But now Sports Illustrated reporter Pablo Torre is adamant about the NCAA's interest:

Just wanted to add: yes, NCAA has been asking all types of people about this case. Official "investigation" is a red herring. They care.

That doesn't sound like an full-fledged NCAA investigation, but certainly something beyond mere passing interest: "investigating," perhaps, with the rest of the formal investigation to come. And that only makes sense, considering Salinas' background as an AAU figure and a person who allegedly took millions from coaches. Even if there's nothing nefarious about Salinas' work as a manager of coaches' money beyond incompetence, there's more than enough smoke for the NCAA to be sniffing around.

If that's the case, the NCAA could be delving into a number of prominent coaches' dealings with Salinas. Former Kentucky coach Billy Gillespie and former Arizona coach Lute Olson are among the coaches who allegedly invested money with Salinas.

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