NEWSFLASH! USC Cheats (duh...)

[BuckyTuba]

First the whole Reggie Bush deal a couple years ago, then USC recruited Master P's son Lil Romeo not for his basketball skills but to put young girls in the seats..... now breaking news that OJ Mayo was paid nearly $30,000 among many other gifts to come play basketball at USC. It's really no surprise, and I full expect the NCAA to through the book... no, the library at them for multiple infractions.

 

ESPN Link

[brettac1]

Yeah, maybe at the basketball program, but they'll go easy on the football team.

 

I'm pretty sure they have to prove some sort of ties between the person giving the cash and the university in order to punish them severely, which they won't do. USC is a marquee school, so I just don't see them getting it too bad.

[Glennron]

I can't say it's surprising about Mayo. He was a top 5 high school prospect and it was said he contacted USC on his own, sounded kind of fishy. I'd be surprised if Mayo was the only one. Davin Jefferson was a 21 year-old freshman as he couldn't play his first two years because of academics. I'd be surprised if he "improved" his grades.

[JJHardy7]

This isn't the first time this publicly came out. I believe Mayo and another player (can't remember who it was) were given tickets to a Nuggets came from Carmelo Anthony. I believe Tim Floyd took the fall for it.

 

I know this looks bad for USC, but I tend to have the feeling this happens at a lot of big programs. USC just happened to get caught. I think if we've gone to major schools or have friends or family who have gone we all have heard stories of players receiving money, cars, and/or grades that flew under the radar.

[craigharmann]

I think Tim Floyd was following the Kelvin Sampson rules of coaching. Violate rules, get fired, and then get a cushy NBA assistant coaching gig.

[Mr QL]

Eh, not surprising at all. Tim Floyd is kind of a creep. He gave Lil Romeo a basketball contract for the exposure and mostly because his friend Demar Derozan is a top player in this class.

 

Probably alot more of this going on then we could imagine.

[GAME05]

i've always assumed it happens at most ever major university. too much money everywhere else to assume one sector of college sports is clean.

 

heck, Aaron Gibson drove an Escalade for at least his senior year. you don't buy those with off-season part-time jobs.

[Paulus88]

I've read the article and saw the segment, where does it say that USC did anything wrong here. It seems that the sports agent was paying all the money to Mayo in High school and also while he was at USC so that Mayo would use their agency. Mayo went to USC in order to raise his profile for the pros not because he was paid. What did USC do wrong except for take a player on the dole from someone else?

 

Not saying USC is clean (they obviously aren't) but I don't think this story can be used as evidence to prove cheating, at most lack of instituional control, hardly a library throwing worthy offense.

[samwise]

I have a few thoughts that come to mind about this.

 

The NBA age minimum rule is and always has been dumb. Kids like Mayo should go to the pros, even though I question Mayo's game (I was never wowed by the kid) he never should have been in college. We would never have to worry about his "amateur status" if he would have gone to the pros instead of his one year with USC. What is the rule intended to do? Improve the college game, why should the NBA care if USC, UCLA or Kansas State has a good team. Bring more mature people into the NBA? I would argue that age has very little to do with maturity. It just makes even more of a mockery of college basketball when a guy plays for a year and leaves.

 

On to USC. They must have known at some level (coaches at the least) that some shady things were going down. This is a tough situation that many colleges all over the country face. But coaches do not want to call anyone out for risk of losing their jobs, same goes for AD's and staff. Should Floyd come out and say that Mayo should be kicked off for receiving illegal gifts and then get fired a month later when his team goes 12-16? That is a tough thing to ask of somebody.

 

One more thought about USC. Lets say that USC had no idea that this was going on. They will get punished for things they did not do, and for a kid who went to school for like 6 months. Ouch.

[RU Rah Rah]

They may cheat, but they have an absolutely gorgeous campus. I was there in April for a conference, and I kept muttering to myself, "Must train son to play football for Pete Carroll . . .must train son to play football for Pete Carroll . . ."

[TooLiveBrew]

It just makes even more of a mockery of college basketball when a guy plays for a year and leaves.

 

I think there are examples to the contrary, though. Magic Johnson @ MSU & Oden @ OSU are the first two that pop into my Big Ten basketball head. Those were pretty special rides, albeit one-year wonders.

 

I've actually enjoyed the guys not skipping college.

[LouisEly]

They may cheat, but they have an absolutely gorgeous campus.

 

Yes, but go three blocks off campus and you are in the middle of the 'hood. Not a place to stray off-campus after dark.

[Roscoe Chill]

Rashard Griffith also had a nice ride with a really nice stereo, from what I could tell when you heard him coming down Regent St.

[danzig6767]

So much of big time college sports is full of seedy behavior on various fronts that don't hold this against Mayo at all.