SEC Media Day at The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala. The schedule for this year's SEC Football Media Days is as follows:
Wednesday-Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi State and South Carolina (12:30 pm-6 pm) Thursday-Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee (8 am-1:30 pm) Friday-Alabama, LSU, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt (8 am-1:30 pm)
SOUTH CAROLINA: The nation's top college football recruit has officially enrolled at South Carolina. School officials said Tuesday that defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has registered for the second summer school session and can begin informal workouts with Gamecock teammates. South Carolina begins football practice in August.
Clowney is the 6-foot-6, 250-pound defensive end from Rock Hill who was considered the country's top prospect. He surprised many last February by selecting South Carolina over Alabama. Clowney is expected to give the Gamecocks depth at defensive end behind starters Devin Taylor and Melvin Ingram.
SHERMAN GONE: Backup receiver Bryce Sherman won't return to South Carolina's football team. A source close to the team confirmed the news to GamecockCentral.com on Saturday afternoon. The source said that Sherman had decided to quit, although receivers coach Steve Spurrier Jr., Sherman's position coach, told GamecockCentral.com that if the decision had been made, Sherman had yet to inform the coaching staff. Moved to wide receiver for 2011 spring practice, Sherman was listed third on the depth chart behind Jason Barnes and Ace Sanders. He was the listed starter at kickoff return, ahead of D.J. Swearinger, but was expected to have competition for the role from incoming freshman Damiere Byrd and potentially Bruce Ellington, who is joining the football team this season.
A fan favorite when he first burst onto the scene in 2009, Sherman had the speed and moves to return kicks and be a slot tailback or wide receiver. Nicknamed "Sherm the Worm," the former USC track athlete walked on to the football team and became the starting kick returner. (gamecockcentral.com)
HEISMAN ODDS: According to bodog.com, the betting odds of Marcus Lattimore winning the Heisman Trophy this season are 7/1. The only players with better odds are Stanford's Andrew Luck (9/2) and Oklahoma's Landry Jones (13/2). Alshon Jeffery is listed at 80/1.
GEORGIA: University of Georgia recruiting assistant Charles Cantor has resigned from his post to "pursue other opportunities", according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog. Cantor, who had only been with the Bulldogs in that capacity since 2008, apparently resigned last month on June 14th - two weeks before UGA linebacker Jarvis Jones had his eligibility called into question for reportedly receiving financial assistance involving air travel between Los Angeles and Atlanta in 2009. Not that the two incidents are necessarily related; university athletic director Greg McGarity declined to comment to the AJC that Cantor's resignation had to do with any NCAA violations, potentially current or past.
However, Cantor has been involved with - directly or indirectly - secondary recruiting violations in the past, including improper calls to high school coaches requesting transcripts. Cantor would not say where he will resume his career but acknowledged it will be in the recruiting side of college athletics.
Cantor's vacated position is an important one in the recruiting process. He served as a human database of information for Richt and his assistant football coaches and was a point person for arranging and orchestrating visits for prospects. His duties are currently being absorbed by recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner and assistant Connie Connelly. (ajc.com)
EVANS HIRED: Damon Evans has been hired as a consultant for the Savannah State athletic department, according to a report in the Savannah Morning News. Evans, a former Georgia athletic director, will assess the department following the firing of Marilynn Suggs on Wednesday. The paper cited two people familiar with the situation in its report. Evans did not return phone calls from the AJC on Thursday. Evans resigned from his UGA position amid scandal last July, days after he was arrested for driving under the influence. Evans pleaded guilty to the DUI charge, was fined $750 and served a one-year probation. Evans and his family moved to Boston, where he works for the Markley Group, a data-center and telecom company.
KING GONE: Running back Caleb King has been ruled academically ineligible and will not play for the Bulldogs this upcoming year, UGA officials confirmed. A senior, King rushed for 430 yards on 80 carries with two touchdowns for the Bulldogs last year. The announcement appears to be the final chapter in what's been a career of speed bumps for King, who was suspended for two games last season for failure to appear at court date in Walton County to answer a traffic violation. He later missed the Liberty Bowl because of academic issues. The Bulldogs were already without Washaun Ealey, who was granted his release and since transferred to Jacksonville State leaving Georgia with touted freshman Isaiah Crowell, redshirt freshman Ken Malcome, junior Carlton Thomas and walk-on Brandon Harton who impressed coaches with his performance during the spring. (ugasports.com)
ALABAMA: Dee Hart's first season at Alabama appears to be over before it ever began. The freshman running back tore his anterior cruciate ligament on Tuesday during a 7-on-7 passing drill. Hart's running back coach at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando confirmed the injury to Vincent Rizzo Sports.com. Hart had surgery Thursday morning and he will begin rehab on Fridayl.
Hart's injury is a blow to Alabama's offense. The 5-foot-8, 185-pounder enrolled at Alabama in January and impressed coaches during spring practice. He was expected to battle with redshirt sophomore Eddie Lacy for a second-team spot behind Trent Richardson and was in line to compete for the punt return job.
Lacy, who rushed for 56 times for 406 yards and six touchdowns last season, should secure the backup job to Richardson. The depth chart behind Lacy is less certain, as pointed out by Don Kausler Jr. the Birmingham News.
In the past two months, two Crimson Tide running backs -- perhaps sensing that they would fall behind Hart on the depth chart -- announced they were transferring. Senior Demetrius Goode has moved on to North Alabama, where he is eligible to play this fall. Redshirt freshman Corey Grant plans to walk on at Auburn with the hope of receiving a scholarship later.
Hart might have been projected as the third-team running back going into preseason practice, behind junior star Trent Richardson and redshirt sophomore Eddie Lacy. Now the line of players behind Lacy is short. Sophomore Jalston Fowler might benefit the most from Hart's injury. Lacy ran 56 times for 406 yards and six touchdowns last season. The 246-pound Fowler ran 14 times for 111 yards and one touchdown.
Redshirt freshman Blake Sims spent most of his practice time last fall at running back, but he was moved to in the spring to quarterback, where depth is a concern. A move back to running back wouldn't be shocking. Alabama signed only one other running back in February. That was Russellville's Brent Callaway, who was recruited foremost as a linebacker. He is trying to enroll this week in Alabama's second summer term, but he has not yet been cleared for classes.
Beyond that are walk-ons Ben Howell and Nick Tinker. Senior inside linebacker Chris Jordan was a star running back at Brentwood (Tenn.) Academy, and inside linebacker perhaps is the deepest position on the team, but Alabama coach Nick Saban understandably might be reluctant to consider a position switch this deep into a player's college career.
HART'S SCHOOL WOES: Dr. Phillips will forfeit every victory from its most successful football season in school history. "We had received information that a player may have been living out of district,'' athletic director John Magrino wrote in an email to the Sentinel."The information was turned over to OCPS [Orange County Public Schools], and after a full investigation, it was confirmed that the residential documentation provided by the family was not accurate. "Because of this information, we followed FHSAA rules by self-reporting the results of this investigation and will be forfeiting all victories in football and men's weightlifting in which the student-athlete participated." The Panthers dominated Central Florida on their way to a 14-1 record and an appearance in the Class 6A state championship game. Dr. Phillips averaged more than 48 points per game while allowing just more than 10. DP, which won every regular-season game by at least four touchdowns, lost 42-27 to Miami Central in the 6A title game in December.
CALLOWAY DELAYED: It looks like the 2011 signee will have to wait another month before enrolling at the University of Alabama and begin working out with the Crimson Tide. Calloway was hoping to enroll in UA's Summer II term, but another mix-up with one of his classes has prevented him from doing that, and he will have to wait until August before taking his first class at Alabama.
OTHER SIGNEE NEWS: Duron Carter, a former Ohio State wide receiver who hopes to transfer to Alabama from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, also hoped to start classes this week, but he will not begin until the fall. Carter is currently on campus. Issac Luatua, an offensive lineman from La Mirada (Calif.) High School, was not able to start summer school until this week because his high school class did not graduate until late June.
Nine signees enrolled in January and participated in spring practice, including wide receiver Ronald Carswell, linebacker Trey DePriest, defensive end Quinton Dial, quarterback Phillip Ely, running back Dee Hart, defensive lineman Wilson Love, safety Vinnie Sunseri and defensive lineman Jesse Williams. Offensive lineman Aaron Douglas also was part of that group. He died in mid-May of a drug overdose while attending a party near Jacksonville, Fla. He was a junior college transfer, as are Dial and Williams.
Thirteen signees have been on campus since the first summer session started: defensive back Hasean Clinton-Dix, linebacker/defensive lineman Xzavier Dickson, tight end Malcolm Faciane, defensive lineman LaMichael Fanning, defensive back Christion Jones, offensive lineman Ryan Kelly, offensive lineman Cyrus Kouandjio, defensive lineman Jeoffrey Pagan, defensive lineman D.J. Pettway, wide receiver Marvin Shinn, wide receiver Bradley Sylve, defensive back Jabriel Washington and wide receiver Danny Woodson.
Carswell and Love originally signed with Alabama in 2010 but were grayshirted. It remains to be seen if any newcomers will be grayshirted this year. It also remains to be seen if the NCAA Clearinghouse eventually will send a newcomer on a detour. That happened last year with outside linebacker Alfy Hill, who was enrolled last summer at Alabama, practiced for two weeks in August but then was declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. Hill went to East Carolina but withdrew, then enrolled at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss. He plans to play this fall at Los Angeles Valley College.
One player who committed to Alabama but did not sign was Shannon Brown, an inside linebacker from Cook County High School in Adel, Ga. He was sent to East Mississippi Community College as a non-qualifier but now is transferring to Georgia Military College. (al.com)
VIRGINIA TECH GAME OFFICIAL: News that came last week out of Virginia now is coming officially from the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide indeed will open its 2013 football season against Virginia Tech in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The game is scheduled for Aug. 31, 2013. The kickoff time and television plans have not yet been determined. The game is expected to be played in prime time, and it is expected to be televised by ABC or ESPN.
TENNESSEE: Tennessee safety Janzen Jackson has returned to school and is back with the Vols, enrolling for the second summer semester, University of Tennessee admissions confirmed Wednesday. According to a brief release from the UT athletic department, Jackson is expected to be a "full participant" when practices begin in August.
Classes for the second summer semester began last Thursday. Jackson, one of the Vols' most talented players, has been away from the team since February because of what coach Derek Dooley described as "personal issues." Jackson, though, remained in Knoxville and continued to train off campus. He is currently listed as a university employee in the school's directory.
A junior, Jackson has started 22 games in his UT career and picked up a team-high five interceptions last season. As a freshman, he was suspended for a game by then-coach Lane Kiffin and later sat out three more games before he was cleared of any wrongdoing in an alleged armed-robbery attempt at a local convenience store.
Last year, he was excused for more than a week of bowl practice to deal with a personal problem, supposedly the same problem that caused him to drop out of school for the spring semester. The problem was serious enough that his status was uncertain for the fall. As UT coach Derek Dooley said two months ago when asked about the possibility of Jackson's return, "Every decision I've made (relative to the secondary) has been with the idea Janzen won't be back."
Now that UT's junior safety has returned, the secondary has enough depth and experience to qualify as the strongest sector of a defense that looks anything but sturdy. That alone doesn't mean Dooley made the right decision in keeping Jackson on the team.
AUBURN: Cecil Newton was at IMG Academies in Florida last week, watching two of his sons -- former Auburn quarterback Cam and middle-schooler Caylin -- work out and talking about how misunderstood he is. Then he clouded the picture even more. Asked whether he ever asked Auburn for money, he told the Charlotte Observer's Joe Person: "According to what the NCAA findings are, that's what we're going with."
Huh? You can't answer that with a simple "no?" Asking for money and being paid are two wildly different things, but Cecil Newton had an opportunity here to do what he says he wants -- let the dust settle over his son's college recruitment -- and instead kicked it up again with his own words. He had a chance to be what he says he is -- transparent -- and instead came across looking like somebody with something more to hide. (mobilepressregister.com)
INDOOR FACILITY: The carpet at Auburn's mammoth new indoor practice facility has been laid. Now all it needs are about 100 young men to sweat, spit and bleed all over it. Randy Byars, Auburn's director of facility planning, said the entire football project, pushed along an aggressive construction schedule, is 95 percent complete and on time. The indoor facility and the nearby outdoor fields will be ready when Auburn opens camp early next month. The $16.5-million project finally gives Auburn a 100-yard indoor facility, something that former coach Tommy Tuberville long campaigned for but never received.
FLORIDA: Florida linebacker Neiron Ball is expected to miss this season as he continues to recover from an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) found in his brain in February, his brother-in-law said. Dary Myricks, Ball's brother-in-law, said the 18-year-old from Jackson, Ga. was diagnosed with AVM, a congenital condition in which an abnormal connection forms between the arteries and veins in the brain, usually before birth. Myricks said Ball underwent "radial surgery," which he compared to radiation that cancer patients receive, rather than "doing a full-scale intrusion. Ball was hospitalized at Shands on Feb. 15 when a blood vessel burst in his brain. He had been suffering headaches and went to see UF trainers, who took him to the hospital fearing he would have an aneurysm. Ball remained in the hospital for five days before spending time recovering with his family in Georgia. Ball did not practice this spring. He'll return to school in August, Myricks said, and is currently at a youth camp.
Ball played in all 13 games as a freshman, recording 10 tackles while playing mostly on special teams. He was ranked the No.19 weakside defensive end by Rivals.com coming out of high school and seemed likely to compete for playing time at linebacker as a sophomore. (orlandosentinel.com)
UF MEDIA GUIDE: Some significant players have changed numbers. Running back Chris Rainey has gone from No. 3 to No. 1, defensive tackle Dominique Easley is wearing No. 2 instead of No. 58, defensive tackle Sharrif Floyd has switched from No. 73 to No. 4 and linebacker Jelani Jenkins will be No. 3 after being No. 43 last season.
Some players have gained significant weight. Redshirt freshman tailback Mack Brown, who was listed as 190 pounds when he signed, is now weighing in at 205. Others who have gained weight include offensive tackle Xavier Nixon, who was down to probably less than 260 in the spring. He's now listed at 295. Another offensive tackle who has been considered somewhat undersized, Matt Patchan, is listed at 295. Others who have gained are defensive end Lerentee McCray (252), offensive guard Ian Silberman (300) and linebacker Gideon Ajagbe (230). (gainesvillesun.com)
WEST WOES: If Will Muschamp, Meyer's successor as the Gators coach, wants to get Florida back to the top of the SEC, he could start by curing its October swoon, a daunting proposition in 2011, when the Gators visit LSU and Auburn and host Alabama in their three-game Western swing for this season.
Meyer lost 15 games in his six seasons at Florida. Ten came against SEC West opponents. But the SEC West isn't just a personal bugaboo; it's been a problem for the Gators since the SEC split into divisions in 1992. Since then, Florida has an 85-10 record against its Eastern rivals, compared to a 36-21 mark against the West. (pressregister.com)
THEUS NARROWS DECISION: Jacksonville (Fla.) Bolles five-star offensive tackle John Theus has been a major target for colleges across the country. It did not take long for coaches to find the 6-6, 292-pound standout with offers coming in as a sophomore. Since his sophomore year, Theus has continued to pile stacks of mail and offer letters, but over the past few months he has narrowed his focus. In May, Theus cut his list to six - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas. This morning he decided on a top three of Florida, Georgia, and Texas. (ugasports.com)
ARKANSAS: Hog offensive lineman Anthony Oden was hit with multiple charges following a traffic stop Saturday morning in Fayetteville. According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Oden was charged with driving while intoxicated - he was booked into jail at 8:52 a.m. local time, incidentally - possession of a controlled substance, driving left of the center line, failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, no proof of ownership, driving on a suspended/revoked driver's license and no driver's license.
Last July, Oden was charged with DWI, careless driving and driving without a license, so his future with the Razorbacks - a future that was thought to include competing for a starting tackle job in summer camp - is very much up I n the air. Oden, a junior, was listed as the co-starter heading into spring practice.
MISSISSIPPI STATE: Brandon Maye feels like a freshman again. Well, on some levels. He's adjusting to a new team, a new system and new way of life as a graduate student at Mississippi State, but the senior transfer from Clemson senses an air of familiarity. The Bulldogs' most depleted area of the roster is linebacker, and with all three starters (and the 253 tackles they totaled last season) graduated, they'll count on this highly-respected Mobile, Ala., native more than any other newcomer when preseason practice rolls around in the first week of August. A great fit, yes, even if Maye made the mistake of walking into the locker room on his first day on campus wearing Clemson gear. Players promptly shredded the bright orange apparel, tossed it in the garbage can and provided him with the proper MSU workout attire. It also took him some time to understand and realize that "the school up north" countdown clock in the locker room referred to the Egg Bowl against rival Ole Miss. "I thought it was a team called 'the team up north,' " Maye said, chuckling. "I didn't know what was going on but they let me know right off the bat."
After graduating, he eyed a school closer to home to deal with personal issues he has not expressed publicly. The NCAA post-graduate transfer rule allowed him to enroll and play his final season at MSU, which will house the final player in the Southeastern Conference under the rule this season. The league will abolish the rule for any new enrollee after Oct. 1, falling back to a requirement allowing players to transfer into the SEC with two or more years of eligibility remaining.
ACC TEAMS
FLORIDA STATE: Marvin Bracy Wide Receiver from Boone (Orlando, Fla.) who is one of the most dynamic overall athletes on the board is one of the fastest prospects in the nation. He has so much versatility - he's simply a guy you can't pass on for this class. FSU needs another big-time special teams weapon to eventually replace Greg Reid and Bracy could immediately fill that void. In addition, he will also continue to fill up the depth at slot receiver, a position where FSU would like want him. Also, Bracy will certainly be one of the fastest prospects to come into Florida State if he were to pick the Seminoles and he plans to run track in college. As we've said for months, FSU sits in a good spot at this point with Bracy, who hinted he might make a decision before the season starts or just when the season begins. Bracy also said his announcement of the college of choice will be Thursday at 4:30 PM at Boone. He is looking at FSU, UF, Aggies and LSU.OTHER TEAMS
OREGON: After denying he'd ever heard of Houston-based recruiting-service operator Willie Lyles, Kelly's Oregon program was found to have paid Lyles $25,000 for a laughably out-of-date recruiting list shortly after landing central Texas prospect Lache Seastrunk. Kelly's explanation to Oregonian columnist John Canzano was one of mistaken identity: "Around here, we call him 'Will.'" Now Kelly's got some more tap-dancing to do, as Lyles told Yahoo! Sports last week that the Ducks paid for his influence and asked for the list only when it became apparent their dealings with Lyles would be made public. What's Kelly going to say this time? It depends on your definition of "influence?" Around here, we call it "recruiting?" (mobilepressregister.com)YAHOO ARTICLE: Embattled scouting service owner Will Lyles told Yahoo! Sports that University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly personally approved a controversial $25,000 fee that sparked an ongoing NCAA investigation and was in constant contact as Lyles provided the Ducks with recruiting assistance that may have violated NCAA rules.
In a wide-ranging, multi-day interview, Lyles said Kelly "scrambled" in late February and asked Lyles to submit retroactive player profiles to justify the $25,000 payment to his company, just days before the transaction was revealed in a March 3 Yahoo! Sports report. Lyles also provided details of his fledgling company - Complete Scouting Services (CSS) - as well as the extent of his relationship with numerous Texas high school stars and his role in Ducks' recruitment of certain prosects.
Lyles insists Oregon did not make a direct request or payment to steer recruits to Eugene. However, he now says Oregon did not pay him for his work as a traditional scout, but for his influence with top recruits and their families and his ability to usher prospects through the signing and eligibility process. That dual role as mentor to prospects and paid contractor to Oregon is believed to be a focus of the NCAA probe.
Lyles said Oregon's assistant director of football operations, Josh Gibson, had direct knowledge - and played an ancillary role - in Lyles helping Temple (Texas) High School star Lache Seastrunk petition to have his grandmother, rather than his mother, sign his national letter of intent with the Ducks in February 2010. Seastrunk's mother, who expressed opposition to her son about attending Oregon, otherwise could have blocked the signing.
In 2007, Lyles counseled the family of current Ducks' star LaMichael James on how to avoid a Texas standardized test required for high school graduation. James had yet to pass the math portion, putting his college eligibility in jeopardy. Lyles suggested James transfer for the final semester of his senior year to a high school in Arkansas where no standardized test is required. James did and later signed with Oregon. According to Lyles, Kelly, then the Ducks' offensive coordinator, praised the transfer as a great idea.
Lyles orchestrated recent visits for multiple recruits to Oregon, including Seastrunk, eventual Oregon signee Dontae Williams, eventual Auburn signee Trovon Reed and recruit Matt Sherrard. Lyles chose an Oct. 31, 2009 game against USC for a visit by Williams, Reed, Sherrard and himself, reviewing and arranging the players' schedules to ensure he and the players could make the trip together.
Any of those actions could be red-flagged by the NCAA, which could classify Lyles as a representative of Oregon's athletics interests, or determine that Lyles was giving recruits impermissible benefits. NCAA bylaw 13.02.14 defines a representative of athletic interests as someone "who is known [or who should have been known] by a member of the institution's executive or athletics administration to be assisting or to have been requested [by the athletics department staff] to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes." The picture he painted to Yahoo! Sports was one of a man serving dual roles as adviser and fixer in the complicated recruiting and eligibility process for local players, while also engaging in a nuanced professional relationship with the college coaches pursuing those same recruits. (Yahoo!sports.com)
LSU AND LYLES: LSU which paid Lyles $6,000 in December for his scouting services and $26,000 to Lyles and/or his various scouting companies since 2008 continues to come up during his discussions about Oregon, which opens the 2011 season against LSU in Arlington, Texas, on Sept. 3. But that's not why.
LSU recruited Seastrunk in 2009-10 when he was the No. 3 tailback in the nation out of Temple, Texas, before signing with Oregon in February 2010. Seastrunk, who is a cousin of LSU tailback Michael Ford, attended a camp at LSU with Lyles in the summer of 2009, according to Lyles. Trevon Randle, a linebacker from League City, Texas, who signed with LSU in February 2010, also has been linked to Lyles, as has LSU defensive line coach Brick Haley, who recruited Randle reportedly with the help of Lyles.
Lyles said he has been interviewed extensively by NCAA investigators, who he said asked about LSU as well as other schools, and he expects to be interviewed more by the NCAA.
"I know (LSU head coach) Les Miles, and he knows me," Lyles said on Oregonian columnist John Canzano's radio show in Portland, Ore., on Tuesday. "I've been at high schools with coaches from LSU. With LSU, it was a relationship I had with those guys (coaches). A lot of those coaches, I spoke with. They inquired about players and things of that nature. They asked for information, and I provide them with information. Kids were never steered to go anywhere. I find it hard to believe that I can just control these people to make them do what I want them to do. It's their job to recruit. I don't close deals for them."
Asked by Canzano if he escorted recruits to the LSU campus, Lyles at first said no.
"In eight years of working in scouting and doing different things in scouting, you get a chance to see a lot and do a lot," he said. "It's just one of those things where you see a lot of things that go on. And that's just something that I just don't want even to touch on at this point. That's about it. I haven't decided on what information I do want to talk about at this point as far as dealing with them (LSU). I don't want to say anything that would be out of line or out of turn as far as my dealings with LSU."
Asked again if he escorted recruits to LSU, Lyles reversed his field. "I have. Well, yeah. Yes, I have. I actually went with Lache (Seastrunk). It was me, Lache and his mother (Evelyn) on that visit to a camp at LSU on campus."
LSU associate vice chancellor/associate athletics director Herb Vincent is confident LSU has not broken NCAA rules concerning its employment of Lyles.
"Accompanying a recruit to campus doesn't necessarily constitute a violation," Vincent said. "When an athlete comes on a visit or to a camp, they can basically bring whomever they want. If that person paid the prospects' way that would be an extra benefit."
LSU has stringent guidelines and check lists for the numerous scouting services it uses in a given year that are not all required by the NCAA.
LSU paid Lyles that $6,000 on Dec. 21, 2010, according to Vincent, who supplied a complete list of LSU's payments to recruiting services dating to 2007. On Dec. 15, 2010, the No. 1 junior college quarterback in the nation - Zach Mettenberger of Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kan. - signed with LSU.
"That's a coincidence," Vincent said. "There is no common time we pay recruiting services. We pay year-round. We usually pay when we get the invoice. To the extent I know, our relationship with Willie Lyles is the same as with other recruiting services. He completed a service for us, and we paid for those services."
Mettenberger's father, Bernie Mettenberger, said he has heard of Lyles because of his association with Oregon, but he that has never met or spoken to Lyles.
"I wouldn't know him if I crossed him at the supermarket," Mettenberger said. "Absolutely not." LSU has been distancing itself from Lyles since March, when news of Lyles' potentially illegal relationships with Oregon first came out. (espn.com)
OHIO STATE: In what will likely be the key piece to Ohio State's immediate future, the Buckeyes plan to submit their official reply to the NCAA's charges of major violations on Friday. That's the deadline to respond to the notice of allegations that the NCAA sent to the school on April 21. Ohio State is scheduled to go before the Committee on Infractions on Aug. 12.
Athletic director Gene Smith declined to reveal the specifics of the response, but told the AP that he felt good about the process. He also expressed his disappointment in the situation.
Of course, just about every team that has faced NCAA sanctions could say the same thing. The sticking point is which few committed the actions, and why didn't the school know what was going on? The fact that some of "the few" in this instance were the school's most high-profile figure and its most recognizable star athlete doesn't help the argument much.
As we saw in the USC case, Ohio State's best bet is to show as much contrition as humanly possible. Obviously, the Buckeyes' response will include the fact that the program has already forced out head coach Jim Tressel. It will be fascinating to see how much the athletic department will try to pin blame on Tressel and Terrelle Pryor, since both are now gone from the team. "See," the school can say, "we already cleaned up our mess? Nothing else to see here."
Ohio State's response will also include self-imposed penalties that the school will hope will be enough for the NCAA infractions committee to accept without further punishment. So how far will the Buckeyes go? Will they institute a bowl ban on themselves, and if so, for how long? Will scholarship reductions be part of the response? Those penalties seem almost guaranteed to come from the NCAA, so Ohio State would be wise to get out in front of the curve and appear sufficiently self shamed.
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