So, a big-time college athlete is on his way to being in a mess about gifts, money, and so forth. yawn. At the same school another big-time athlete was said to have accepted the same. yawn.
I went to a big school. Lots of kids go to big schools, wether is for school, sports, or to party. We've all seen kids who drive Yugos, and those that drive Beamers. I said this when I was at NC State too, and I still say there is no such thing as a poor college student.
The only poor athletes you might see on campus are probably on the bowling team, or Mathletes. The NCAA will probably do a percursory check of USC and O.J. Mayo, and find nothing worth investigating. But we should all know better. Any star athlete who has a "disadvantaged background" and shows up on campus in designer threads and a new ride should be investigated thoroughly. But before the punishment, if any, is handed down, lets find out who their benefactor is. As in the Mayo case, it could be someone who wanted to be an agent. It might be asking too much, but couldn't the NBA decertify them? Oh wait, that would be taking money from David Stern because the big-time college athlete will have to squander time by continuing to play for the NCAA, and not the NBA. The NBA has a vested interest in seeing these young studs get to play-for-pay.
Lots of blame always gets tossed on the hangers-ons and agent wannabe's for giving gifts to college stars. But don't think for a minute that coaches don't know what's going on with their players. As much money and time goes into recruiting each player, coaches know when and where these kids like to go to get a milkshake, much less who goes with them.
Yes, the kids are at fault. But if you were a college athlete and had to rely on Athletic Dept. handouts for every meal, would you say know to some free money? The NCAA should go after the schools, but the coaches have just as much to gain from this system as the athletes do. Until the NCAA severly cracks down on coaches - like a multi-year ban, recruiting handcufffs - this system will continue to prosper.
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Two things. First, we need to bring back the "death penalty". Schools know that they can get away with these infractions and what, lose a couple scholarships? Big deal. A place like So Cal has running backs 7 or 8 deep who are playing without scholarship just because the bench at the Coliseum is a better option than a full ride to Marshall. Second, until coaches are penalized as hard as the schools, they'll be complicit. There is no incentive for a coach to police his team. He gets busted (Yeah you Sampson), he goes to the next team. Meanwhile the school he leaves behind suffers the consequences.
Finally, these days half of the allegations are coming out of SC. Almost as if you can turn the TV off when ESPN starts with "New allegations out of . . ." It's time the NCAA stepped in and did some house-cleaning. That school and Pete Carroll are out of control.
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