In a just world, USC basketball would have something in common with SMU football in the near future.
The death penalty.
It’s not going to happen, because NCAA bylaws don’t work that way. And besides, they’re not likely to ever again disband a program for a year after the smoking crater it left at SMU.
But USC deserves it. The school has so far escaped facing NCAA prosecution for compelling allegations that star tailback Reggie Bush and his family were lavishly compensated by an aspiring agent while playing for the Trojans. Now comes a devastating, thoroughly documented “Outside The Lines” report that goes into stunning detail about the money and gifts star guard O.J. Mayo allegedly received before and during his one season at USC.
All directly beneath USC’s chronically blind eyes.
Related – Link to Deadspin’s OJ Mayo entry
Kudos to ESPN for finally writing what others feel about what goes on down in Southern California. This thing stinks to high heaven. Everyone in college basketball knew what was going on here; and Mayo’s odd selection of choosing USC, a school he never visited and had with whom he had NO tie to, was just one of the huge blinking red lights. We don’t typically give the troll a lot of credit, but even he was discussing this in his columns two years ago.
Before Mayo signs, USC would be wise to look hard — very hard — at the Guillory connection. Looking the other way may have helped put USC knee-deep in the Ornstein-Bush mess; sources say Ornstein found his way onto the sideline for USC football games as a guest of Dana and David Pump, Adidas kingpins who once used Ornstein as an auctioneer for their annual fundraiser.
Connect the dots. One way or another, Ornstein met Bush and ultimately became his marketing rep. Bush signed with Adidas. The NCAA is looking into what illegal benefits, if any, Bush received from Ornstein while still at USC.
Now Mayo — the Trojans’ top basketball recruit since Paul Westphal — is being advised by Guillory. And Guillory not only was once labeled by the NCAA as an agent’s representative, but helped get a former USC player (Trepagnier) suspended.
Irony doesn’t begin to describe this situation.
USC played the role of counduit perfectly. Now they want to play dumb and rely on the crutch of the NCAA’s check into Mayo’s amateur eligibility before he stepped foot on campus. That should not cut the mustard here.
Do you want a little more USC Haterade for your day? Check out this fantastic link from Fanblogs.com that highlights the discipline issues within the USC football program. Note that this link is a year old and I have been saving it for the right time that we talked about the Trojan program. This list is dumbfounding and you wonder how all of this is not a part of the media’s standard discussion of the Trojans’ program.
