David Salinas was an unknown to the public and casual sports fan before Sunday night, but his suicide has opened a potential can of worms for several college coaches and the NCAA.
Salinas, 60, co-founded the Amateur Athletic Union team Houston Select and was also an investment adviser with an interesting list of clients.
As first reported by CBSSports.com, among those who invested with Salinas were former Arizona coach Lute Olson, Baylor coach Scott Drew, former-Kentucky and current Texas Tech coach Billy Gillispie and former Utah coach and current Gonzaga assistant Ray Giacoletti. CBS also reported Salinas was under investigation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tuesday, Sports Illustrated learned the list of coaches who invested with Salinas is even longer.
Former UH head basketball coach Pat Foster along with former head football coaches Art Briles and Bill Yeoman are among the many who gave Salinas money.
Between 1992 and 2002, eight players from Houston Select played for UH.
Former head basketball coach Tom Penders told Dan Wolken from TheDaily.com on Tuesday that he was approached by Salinas in 2004 and intimated that he could offer greater “access to prospects” in exchange for a large sum of money. Penders declined.
“This is a tragic situation for many people,” UH athletics director Mack Rhoades said in a statement. “David Salinas was a season ticket holder and donor to the University of Houston athletics program and cared about UH very much. Our prayers go out to all those affected by the recent developments.
“We are continuing to monitor how this situation affects our department and its people.”
The University’s athletics department wouldn’t comment on the amount Salinas contributed, but the Houston Chronicle reported that he made 35 separate donations totaling $202,069.
Alvin Brooks III, an assistant coach at Sam Houston State and son of UH assistant Alvin Brooks Sr. played for Houston Select before starting his collegiate career at Idaho State in 2000.
“He didn’t press us on playing for a certain school,” Brooks said. “If you look, we all played at different places.”
One of the players that Brooks played with on Houston Select, Louis Truscott, played for Danny Nee at Nebraska.
He is the current head coach at the United States Merchant Marine Academy. CBSSports.com reported that Nee had investments with Salinas.
He denied any connection between his financial and basketball relationships with Salinas.
“He was a close friend for 25 years,” Nee said. “I had personal dealings with him. I just feel bad for his family.
“He helped coaches manage their money and he did it really well.”
According to documents reviewed by SI, Salinas lost over $7.8 million for Olson, Drew, Gillispie and Gonzaga head coach Mark Few.
“I can’t remember the last time that I spoke to him,” Nee said. “I don’t think anything he did with Houston Select had anything to do with his business.”
Truscott finished his career at UH after two seasons at Nebraska.
In addition to Truscott, Nebraska recruited Houston Select alums Alonzo Edwards and Rodney Williams.Three former UH players were charter members of Houston Select — Truscott, Charles Fordjour and Bill Braxton.
The other five former UH players who played for Houston Select are Moses Malone Jr., Alton Ford, Andy Ikeafor, Bernard Allen and Gary Robinson.
