The criminal lifestyle that Stephen
Saine once knew firsthand could have ended unpleasantly like so many others of
the same ilk: They either languish in prison or wind up on a cold slab in the
morgue.
Saine was lucky – or blessed, as
Christians would say – that he was able to skirt the inevitable consequences of
drug dealing and lead a life that is respectable and responsible – that is until
he found himself embroiled in a pay-for-play scheme involving his beloved
nephew, Jartavious Pierre Henderson-Niles.
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| Stephen Saine |
Known as “Pink Chevy” when he was
dealing on the streets, Saine would make amends for such an unsavory vocation and
turn to God and the ministry. He is the pastor of Higher Heights Christian
Church in Memphis.
Old habits are sometimes hard to
break. In this case, Saine would call upon a familiar
skill-set after he was led to believe that his nephew’s basketball prowess was
ripe for the pros.
The street life and Saine’s
ingratiation with swarming coaches thus became fodder for an autobiographical book
entitled “Fragrant Fouls” (River House Publishing), a true story about Saine
and his penchant for stopping at nothing to hew out a path leading straightaway
to his nephew’s success on the basketball court.
“It chronicles the highs and lows
of my life when I was in the streets back in the day selling drugs,” said
Saine, bringing to bear his criminal activity, his reinvention as a “Man of
God,” and, of course, the “lies, deceit and scandal”
that rocked the Memphis basketball community.
“It coincides [with] where I am now
in my life, reaching back, letting folks know to stay out of the streets….” he
said. “I wrote the book to let others know there’s a better way than the way we
were going.”
That better way – in addition to
the “hustle” that got Saine in trouble at the onset of his criminal life and at
the outset when he stood in the gap for his nephew – is best detailed in the following
synopsis of “Flagrant Fouls.”
“Chronicling
firsthand experiences that were a paltry mix of lies, deceit and scandal, ‘Flagrant
Fouls’ explores what happened behind closed doors to recruit his nephew to a
college basketball program, the broken promise made by ambitious high-profile
coaches and the impact those negotiations ultimately had on his family.”
One of the infamous coaches that Saine
accuses in the book is John Calipari, the former head basketball coach at the
University of Memphis and current head coach at the University of Kentucky. After
negotiations turned ugly, the drug-dealer-turned-preacher learned that “all that glitters isn't gold.”
“It’s
about my dealings with Memphis basketball coach John Calipari,” said Saine, who
was his nephew’s custodian during that era of Tiger basketball. “They (coaching
staff) were fragrant; they were foul; they were corrupt.”
Saine
claimed Calipari and others on the coaching staff brought him into the mix
under the guise of helping him because he was a “one-time” felon and couldn’t
get a job.
“They
were paying me under the table to bring my nephew there (U of M)…so he wouldn’t
sign nowhere else,” said Saine. “As time went on, they said they would help me
get a job and pay me whatever my bills were for the month.”
Saine
accused Calipari of reneging on the deal, but he would pay a hefty price for the
lessons he learned – including unwanted public exposure for yet another misdeed.
It was all because he wanted his nephew to excel at collegiate basketball and
then on the pros.
After the media broke the story in
2014, Saine said he and his nephew would run afoul of each other. He added that
Henderson-Niles would eventually realize
that “that man was crooked” – referring to Calipari.
Henderson-Niles
graduated from the UofM in 2010. A few months ago, Saine said he struck up a
conversation with his nephew about the scheme
that placed them at the center of controversy.
The U of M has been silent and Saine’s
allegation has not marred Calipari, who did incur several major infractions
when he coached Tiger basketball.
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