Posted on 06/12/2010 4:23:04 AM PDT by Bad~Rodeo
While upperclassmen will be allowed to leave the USC football team, the Trojans claim other schools have illegally jumped the gun with a freshman.
Juniors and seniors to-be will be allowed to transfer to other FBS programs without having to sit out a season after the program was hit with a two-year postseason ban among other punishments, the NCAA clarified to ESPN on Friday.
"The second school would have to submit a waiver asking to waive the year in residence, but NCAA rules allow for this waiver to be granted if a student-athlete's first school has a postseason ban in their sport," NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said in an e-mail to ESPN's Joe Schad.
The rule does not apply to freshmen who have signed national letters of intent, however. But schools with an interest in a USC junior or senior are allowed to initiate contact with the player, Osburn said.
With one rather large caveat. A USC official told ESPNLosAngeles.com on Thursday the Pac-10 would not waive the one-year transfer ineligibility rule in this case. This means, effectively, USC players won't transfer within the conference. A Pac-10 official confirmed the stipulation to the Seattle Times on Friday.
Meanwhile, USC true freshman running back Dillon Baxter told the school's director of compliance that five schools illegally contacted him in the wake of USC's NCAA penalties, according to a document reviewed by ESPN's Joe Schad.
In a letter written by USC director of compliance Matt Billings to Pac-10 Associate Commissioner for Governance and Enforcement Ron Barker, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Fresno State and Alabama allegedly contacted Baxter.
The letter states in part: "I just met with
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Pac-10 protecting their own by not accepting the transfers (that the NCAA allows). Nice...
The thing is - the kinds of problems found in USC’s programs are not isolated. Many other big-name schools do the same kinds of things with immunity.
Nothing fishy here - I have personally witnessed high-school recruits being ready to head to one university. Another as big or bigger school makes contact. The student athlete goes on one little visit... and drives home in a new vehicle, and with cash in his pocket...
Stories of parents living in a mansion while their kid plays ball for a university... all while unemployed and drawing a check from Uncle Sam...
The NCAA is just as corrupt as our government. Play like you are getting tough every so often to give an illusion that you are “doing something”... but in reality, you give a wink and a nod and move on.
College sports is a huge business. Colleges in many ways are just training grounds for professional athletes. Seems like such a waste.
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