Lloyd Lake agrees to talk to NCAA about Reggie Bush

[Russ Smith]

not sure yet if this is a huge deal or much ado about nothing but Lake has agreed to "spill the beans" to the NCAA about his financial dealings with Bush and his family when Reggie was at USC. This could be a huge deal giving the NCAA information needed to take actions such as declaring him retroactively ineligible and forfeiting games, or they could just decide it's hearsay and do nothing.

By all accounts Bush has steadfastly refused to cooperate with the NCAA in any way and since they don't have the power of subpoena, basically he's not required to talk to them. So it's going to take someone like Lake or Ornstein to give up hard evidence to the NCAA to push the investigation forward.

Whoops make that Lloyd Lake.

 

[abomb]

 

[Russ Smith]

ESPN says USC was invited to appear at the meeting with Lake and the NCAA but declined.

I'm really not sure what their tactic is? Do they really not think Bush did anything wrong, do they think that by refusing to cooperate it will be harder for the NCAA to tie any of this to USC(which in fact may be the case USC may not have had any idea what Reggie was doing)? Totally baffled what USC is doing here.

ESPN is saying Lake has agreed to provide proof of financial transactions and that he is preparing to file a civil suit against Bush to recoup money he paid to him and his family. He declined to confirm that his lawyer said he's not allowed to comment on any possible pending suits.

 

[Russ Smith]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;...c5nYcB?slug=ys-bush100907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Yahoo story on this.

Says Lake has evidence of over 280,000 in extra benefits received by Bush or his family when he was at USC.

Also says Bush and Michaels settled out of court for between 200 and 300K on the condition that Michaels agree to a confidentiality clause that barred him from talking to the NCAA about Bush.

 

[Southpaw]

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news;...c5nYcB?slug=ys-bush100907&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Yahoo story on this.

Says Lake has evidence of over 280,000 in extra benefits received by Bush or his family when he was at USC.

Also says Bush and Michaels settled out of court for between 200 and 300K on the condition that Michaels agree to a confidentiality clause that barred him from talking to the NCAA about Bush.

Saw that. Not exactly the actions of an innocent man. " Don't talk to the NCAA. Bush may end up being the Marion Jones of the NCAA.

 

[Russ Smith]

Saw that. Not exactly the actions of an innocent man. " Don't talk to the NCAA. Bush may end up being the Marion Jones of the NCAA.

Yep on a UCLA board I read a lawyer there said he thinks the NCAA should simply take the settlement with Michaels as an admission of guilt since Bush is refusing to cooperate with the NCAA and they can't subpoena him. Fundamentally they probably can't do that but I can sure get the idea, if someone signs a deal that bans someone else from talking to the NCAA the logical assumption is they know if that person DID talk, it would be bad news for them(Bush).

Even USC fans are no longer denying Bush did anything wrong, they just deny that USC knew about it and is culpable themselves.

It is interesting, in hindsight the entire Bush to USC recruiting situation takes on a new look. People forget or never heard it but Bush was NOT a strong lean to USC all along, in fact virtually everyone had him going to Notre Dame, but he picked USC at the last minute. The official story then was that everyone thought Lorenzo Booker (the top rated RB from California that year) was going to USC so Bush was going to ND instead. When Booker surprised and picked FSU, Bush changed his mind and went to USC. It all made sense then but in hindsight you really wonder if Booker had anything to do with it or if Bush simply got an "offer" from someone that made going to USC more attractive?

 

[Southpaw]

Just a stroll down memory lane. That Reggie . He's a hoot.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOtZ-o7GfUI

 

[Russ Smith]

Just a stroll down memory lane. That Reggie . He's a hoot.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOtZ-o7GfUI

Yep that still amazes me that the kid admits to a violation live and yet here he is playing for USC this season as if he never admitted it.

 

[Southpaw]

Yep that still amazes me that the kid admits to a violation live and yet here he is playing for USC this season as if he never admitted it.

After Oklahoma got slammed, I thought it was just a matter of time before USC got hit. What is the feeling out there. Are they tip toeing or laughing?

 

[Russ Smith]

After Oklahoma got slammed, I thought it was just a matter of time before USC got hit. What is the feeling out there. Are they tip toeing or laughing?

I really don't know. USC fans seem convinced that Bush probably did take money but that it has no bearing on USC because nobody at USC knew about it.

With rivalries you always have allegations of payoffs and cheating and it's hard to know what's true. There was always innuendo that Bush switched from ND to USC because of money but the Booker story seemed so logical I never gave it a second thought until this other stuff about Reggie came out.

Obviously the settlement with Michaels to me is close to proof he took money, you don't say you can't talk to the NCAA if I pay you off, if you didn't do something wrong.


Bush is the first case where it seems really clear that he took money. McKnight is a cut and dried no question story of a violation, he outright
said Pete Carroll called him up and put him on speaker phone so I could talk to him, then the HS coach steps in and says yeah we asked the question and the USC folks answered it. Crystal clear, McKnight admits to a violation because he doesn't know the rule, his coach knows the rule and tries to smooth it over by saying USC people instead of Bush. Next day they retract the whole comment, say he misspoke, and nothing happens.

UCLA fans are convinced USC is going to get nailed, but they've been saying that for about 3 years now.

I think the likely outcome is they nail Bush retroactively but USC gets a slap on the wrist. About the only way they can really come down on them is the dreaded lack of institutional control and there might not be any evidence that proves USC knew or should have known what Bush was doing. With the Leinart/Jarrett deal also ongoing maybe you make that institutional control argument stick by saying look how many violations were taking place that they "didn't know about."


IIRC OU got nailed specifically because of lack of institutional control because if they'd simply compared their practice schedules to the time sheets for Bomar and the other guy they'd have known they were being paid for hours worked when they were actually at practice?

 

[Southpaw]

The reason I compared OU to USC was because of their Teflon coating.

I thought that Brian Cushing, an East Coast kid who seemed to be a lock for an East Coast school, was suspicious. If he was playing for BC or Rutgers, he would be a household name.

 

[Russ Smith]

The reason I compared OU to USC was because of their Teflon coating.

I thought that Brian Cushing, an East Coast kid who seemed to be a lock for an East Coast school, was suspicious. If he was playing for BC or Rutgers, he would be a household name.

Yep he's really good but Rivers and Maualuga are probably better pro prospects so they get more hype.

Maualuga is the type of kid you call a thug unless he's on your favorite team and then you love him. If he were to end up a Cardinal I bet he'd be one of the fan favorites really quickly, freak athlete and hits like a truck.

 

[Southpaw]

Yep he's really good but Rivers and Maualuga are probably better pro prospects so they get more hype.

Maualuga is the type of kid you call a thug unless he's on your favorite team and then you love him. If he were to end up a Cardinal I bet he'd be one of the fan favorites really quickly, freak athlete and hits like a truck.

I wasn't speaking of ability and impact. Just his 3000 mile odyssey.

 

[Russ Smith]

I wasn't speaking of ability and impact. Just his 3000 mile odyssey.

True but they got Jarrett from back east, Turner from Tennessee, McKnight from Louisiana etc. They've been getting bigtime national recruits for a few years so if they're buying them all it's got to come out eventually.

Personally I think most of the innuendo is untrue, USC started winning and people wanted to stay home and win and then it snowballed. But it's pretty clear Bush got paid and I have to admit I never really bought the excuse that Leinart's dad didn't know he was violating rules with Jarrett I just think he thought it was ok because he was paying for the place for his son so he figured I'll charge whatever I want for rent for Jarrett nobody will ever know.

 

[abomb]

Thanks for posting this stuff Russ.

 

[Russ Smith]

Thanks for posting this stuff Russ.

Never turn down a chance to bash USC!

I actually think for the most part they're no more guilty than anybody else with respect to football and this stuff.

I think Tim Floyd makes Carroll look like a sunday school teacher when it comes to running a program cleanly.


But I will never get the McKnight case, short of him opening a Fed Ex envelope from George Lucas and waiving 10,000 in cash and then saying "I pick USC", how much more obvious could he make it admitting to a violation? I don't care if he said the next day he misspoke, he admitted to a violation.

 

[Skkorpion]

USC cheating? No!

UCLA never cheats. Oh wait, when I was at Notre Dame, back in 1969, 70, 71 and John Wooden was winning 11 NCAA titles, he had his own private financier, name escapes me, who paid for anything and everything the UCLA players wanted. Cars, plane tickets...

Ah, who cares? Seriously, Russ. Get off this cheating kick. Some don't cheat. Many do. It doesn't matter. Most schools only care about keeping the donations from alums flowing and that means winning.

I forget the name of the player involved but I remember reading a story involving Knute Rockne in 1930, I believe. One of his best players had received a good offer from Michigan State and had enrolled there instead of coming back to Notre Dame.

So Knute drove up there, found the player, made him a better offer, and drove him back to South Bend.

I'm sure you could fill in the missing pieces if you google it.

Cheating ain't an issue! Get over it.

 

[Russ Smith]

USC cheating? No!

UCLA never cheats. Oh wait, when I was at Notre Dame, back in 1969, 70, 71 and John Wooden was winning 11 NCAA titles, he had his own private financier, name escapes me, who paid for anything and everything the UCLA players wanted. Cars, plane tickets...

Ah, who cares? Seriously, Russ. Get off this cheating kick. Some don't cheat. Many do. It doesn't matter. Most schools only care about keeping the donations from alums flowing and that means winning.

I forget the name of the player involved but I remember reading a story involving Knute Rockne in 1930, I believe. One of his best players had received a good offer from Michigan State and had enrolled there instead of coming back to Notre Dame.

So Knute drove up there, found the player, made him a better offer, and drove him back to South Bend.

I'm sure you could fill in the missing pieces if you google it.

Cheating ain't an issue! Get over it.

That would be Sam Gilbert, UCLA went on probation courtesy of him in the early 80's. The amounts of money have grown over time of course most UCLA fans said he gave them spending money for dates, paid for an abortion for one players' girlfriend. Gilbert wasn't nearly as rich as people claim he was, he certainly broke NCAA rules but he's had nothing to do with UCLA since 1981 and he's been dead for years so I'm not sure the relevance to Reggie Bush and USC.

Gilbert actually hated Wooden because Wooden told his players to stay away from him, but if you want to call him Wooden's private financier feel free, 35 year old rumors tend to grow.

If you believe Yahoo sports and others Lake has actual hard proof of financial transactions with Bush. Actual receipts. I'm not saying USC is alone in this but when people start throwing out numbers like 300K for a player it catches my interest.