We got to know Bret several years ago when the media (he really, really disliked the New York Post because, he said, the paper had not reported on him fairly or honestly) looked at some trips he was taking with high-end recruits.
We wrote about it and Bearup responded and we had a friendly exchange. He had a solid argument: as a financial adviser, not an agent or a coach, he had no involvement with or concerns about recruiting. He was simply doing what business people do: cultivating future clients.
He confided at one point that if he had it to do again he would have probably picked Duke over Kentucky.