Brittney Griner (Getty Images)It's apparently no accident former Baylor star Brittney Griner didn't publicly reveal she was gay until after her college career ended last month.

Griner told espnW that Baylor women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey requested players not be publicly open about their sexuality out of fear it would affect the perception of the program in the community and negatively impact recruiting.

"It was a recruiting thing," Griner told espnW. "The coaches thought that if it seemed like they condoned it, people wouldn't let their kids come play for Baylor.

"It was just kind of, like, one of those things, you know, just don't do it. They kind of tried to make it, like, 'Why put your business out on the street like that?'"

Griner casually acknowledged she was gay last month during a series of interviews with reporters leading up to the WNBA draft. The No. 1 overall pick of the Phoenix Mercury told reporters her friends and family had known she was gay since her freshman year of high school and it was an open secret among her Baylor coaches and teammates.

That Baylor would discourage gay players from publicly discussing their sexuality is a sad testament to the pervasiveness of homophobia in America and to the pressure on college coaches to win. Mulkey was apparently willing to ask players to hide part of their identity because she couldn't risk alienating a recruit or two who wouldn't be comfortable playing alongside openly gay teammates.

Steve Alford (Getty Images)

New Mexico and Steve Alford have reached a deal on a separation agreement.

Alford and UCLA will pay $300,000 to New Mexico to satisfy a buyout clause in his contract with his former employer. New Mexico had initially demanded a $1 million buyout when Alford was hired by UCLA in late-March.

Alford left New Mexico on March 30 just 12 days after agreeing to a new contract with New Mexico that was scheduled to take effect on April 1. Alford maintained that he was not responsible for the $1 million buyout in that new deal because he was hired by UCLA before it went into effect.

Ben McLemore (Getty Images)Ben McLemore is under no obligation to speak to NCAA investigators since he no longer plays for Kansas, but the future NBA lottery pick appears willing to cooperate anyway.

In an interview at the NBA draft combine in Chicago on Thursday, McLemore told SI.com if NCAA investigators want to chat about alleged payments an agent made to his former AAU coach, he'd be willing to meet with them.

"I would tell them the truth and tell them what I know, and just cooperate with them," McLemore said. "Hopefully they'll cooperate with me and hear my side."

McLemore's side appears to be that he knew nothing about the $10,000 cash and gifts AAU coach Darius Cobb admitted to USA Today he accepted from a runner this spring in return for steering the talented shooting guard toward certain agents. If he reiterates that stance to investigators and they find no proof to the contrary, it will put the NCAA in a difficult position as it tries to determine the punishment.

On one hand, the money Cobb acknowledged taking did not benefit Kansas in the least since it had nothing to do with McLemore choosing the Jayhawks two years prior. At the same time, the payments rendered McLemore ineligible based on the letter of the NCAA rulebook, which means Kansas could be punished and perhaps even have to vacate the wins it achieved after Cobb allegedly began accepting cash and gifts.