The University of Memphis has hired Hamilton High School coach Keelon Lawson as an assistant coach for the upcoming season.
The hiring is somewhat controversial, because Lawson is the father of three highly-ranked recruits, and Lawson has previously told CBS Sports that his kids will follow him to whatever school he is hired by.
K.J. Lawson, the oldest son, is already committed to Memphis and is ranked 37th in the class of 2015 by ESPN. The younger son Dedric is slotted 7th by ESPN in the class of 2016, and then an even younger son, Chandler, is perhaps the best prospect of the group. He's ranked 4th in the class of 2019 by Future150.com.
So yes, Keelon Lawson was almost definitely hired because of his sons. That may rub some people the wrong way, but the situation is not as fishy as it might may sound.
Keelon isn't a random guy off the street with three very talented basketball players in the family. He is in fact a legitimate basketball coach at Hamilton High School in Memphis, and has been since 2003.
In those 10 years coaching at Hamilton Keelon has enjoyed a run of success, including a perfect 39-0 season in 2006, capped off with a state championship. He also holds a bachelor's degree from Union University.
So, Keelon's sons helped him land a job, but it's hard to argue that he's not qualified for the job, especially considering that it's a lowly third assistant slot.
And if Memphis coach Josh Pastner didn't hire Lawson, he likely would have missed out on 2015 commit K.J. as well as any chance at landing the other sons, because other schools had also shown interest in hiring the Hamilton coach.
In an interview with Gary Parrish of CBS Sports, an anonymous NCAA coach had the following to say of the situation:
"[Pastner] had no choice. If he didn't do it, another coach would've, and he couldn't risk letting those kids get out of Memphis."