Double trouble for USC

[bucksfan2]

Calipari went from U Mass to the Nets. Pitino went from Providence to the Knicks. It's not exactly unprecedented. But normally a coach who excels at a place like ISU goes to a better job in college and not an NBA job. But he and Jerry Krause were tight and in this case it wasn't what you know it was who you know.

Both Cal and Pitino went to final fours correct? It is unprecedented but I guess anything can happen if you have the right contacts.

[dabvu2498]

PJ Carliesemo says hello also. Larry Brown has gone back and forth.

[Hoosier Red]

Calipari went from U Mass to the Nets. Pitino went from Providence to the Knicks. It's not exactly unprecedented. But normally a coach who excels at a place like ISU goes to a better job in college and not an NBA job. But he and Jerry Krause were tight and in this case it wasn't what you know it was who you know.

When he was at ISU there were problems with the players he recruited. Several of them were thugs plain and simple. One of his players was playing for a minor league team in Des Moines after he finished school and they actually tried to arrest him after a game but he fleed the scene. They eventually caught up with him but he was a thug, plain and simple. Of course that doesn't make Floyd unique since a lot of coaches recruit thugs. Floyd's a great defensive coach. He's from the Iba tree of coaches. His offense is boring but his teams play defense. It's sad this had to happen. O.J. was going to be trouble for anyone who signed him.

Jamaal Tinsley was one of the stars of that team I believe.

[WVRed]

Jamaal Tinsley was one of the stars of that team I believe.

and Marcus Fizer.

[cumberlandreds]

Jamaal Tinsley was one of the stars of that team I believe.

Yes and they lost to Hampton in the first round of the NCAA's.

[Revering4Blue]

Bush-whacked

Reggie Bush never played for Tim Floyd, but the football star is a big reason the coach is gone at USC, Michael Rosenberg says.

Floyd created a mess, but he also had company
by Michael Rosenberg

Jerry Tarkanian, the all-time king of rogue coaches, once summed up the NCAA's hypocrisy by saying "The NCAA got so mad at Kentucky, they put Cleveland State on probation."

To that, we add a 21st-century update:

USC got so upset about its football scandal that it forced out its basketball coach. Tim Floyd resigned under pressure this week — under the pressure of two NCAA scandals, and under the pressure of being the 13th-most important coach on campus — behind Pete Carroll and his 11 assistants.

The Trojans' football and basketball programs are under siege. Both programs have been accused of major violations. USC has shown pretty clearly that it has no interest in, you know, actually finding out what happened. The Los Angeles Times recently reported that USC has done comically little to investigate the allegations.

But even USC athletic director Mike Garrett knows he can't escape major accusations in the two biggest sports. Somebody had to pay here. And asking USC to choose between football and basketball is like asking Saudi Arabia to choose between its oil and its racehorses. One is a fun diversion; the other one pays all the bills.

There are three versions of why Tim Floyd is out at USC. There is the fiction, the speculation and the likely truth.

First, the fiction: Floyd released this statement to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger in his home state of Mississippi:

There are allegations of large payments to Reggie Bush and his family while at USC. (Lisa Blumenfeld / Getty Images)

"I no longer feel I can offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families, and the supporters of Southern Cal."

That is a great story, and I admire the creativity of whoever came up with it. Unfortunately, it is not remotely believable.

Just two months ago, Floyd turned down the Arizona job ... because his, uh, level of enthusiasm for coaching USC was extremely high. He had the horses to make a Final Four run.

Then three of Floyd's players left early for the NBA, and Yahoo Sports reported that Floyd paid Rodney Guillory at least $1,000 in cash, according to Louis Johnson, a former Guillory associate. Guillory is the guy who delivered star O.J. Mayo to USC, and the guy who supposedly gave Mayo $30,000 when he played for the Trojans (also according to Johnson, via ESPN last year).

This leads to the second version: that USC forced Floyd to resign. Is that accurate? Well, it probably depends on your definition of the word "forced."

This brings us to version three, the likely truth: USC did not technically ask Floyd to resign. But the school made Floyd's office seat so uncomfortable, it might as well have been made of burning nails.

With no NFL franchise in town, Trojans coach Pete Carroll is the biggest football name in Los Angeles.

When Arizona called, USC did not renegotiate his contract. Floyd landed star recruit Renardo Sidney, then suddenly stopped recruiting him. It was pretty obvious that USC had told Floyd he couldn't take Sidney. Tim Floyd does not suddenly walk away from one of the top recruits in the country.

Garrett wanted Floyd gone, and Floyd knew it. So Garrett and USC pulled one of the top recruits in the country away from him.

Does anybody think USC would have done the same to Pete Carroll? Make no mistake: Tim Floyd made his own professional deathbed. If Floyd was truly innocent, of course he would speak up for himself. He wouldn't just resign.

Instead, Floyd leaves because USC had to sacrifice somebody. More than three years have passed since Yahoo Sports reported that an agent paid Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush well into six figures while Bush played for the Trojans. That case is still pending. It has become quite obvious that USC would like that case to pend for another few centuries.

USC can try a divide-and-survive strategy with the NCAA:

1. Admit that the basketball program has been naughty.

2. Say the school is offended and will punish itself thoroughly for those transgressions.

3. Say, "hey, we're obviously tough on crime around here — look at what we did to our basketball program. But we discovered our football program is clean. Jeez Louise, what a relief!"

Tim Floyd dove into hot water. He deserved what he got. But as you list his sins, please include this one: He didn't coach football.

http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/9...so-had-company

[Revering4Blue]

Report: McKnight under investigation

ESPN.com news services

USC tailback Joe McKnight has been driving a 2006 Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica, Calif., businessman, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.

USC is investigating McKnight's use of the vehicle to find out if it is in violation NCAA rules. It is against NCAA rules for athletes to accept benefits from agents or marketing representatives, or to accept "extra benefits" based on their ability.

The Times reported McKnight has been seen driving the SUV, which the California Department of Motor Vehicles says is registered to Scott Schenter.

Schenter, 47, works in marketing and owns a company that registered a Web site called 4joemcknight.com, according to the newspaper.

Schenter's wife, Dawn, told the Times he was in South Africa. Reached by e-mail, Schenter didn't respond to a list of questions sent by the newspaper, according to the report.

If McKnight is in violation of NCAA rules, it could affect his eligibility. USC plays Boston College in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 26 in San Francisco.

USC is already being investigated by the NCAA and Pac-10 regarding accusations that running back Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo received improper benefits during their time at the school.

McKnight is the Trojans' leading rusher with 1,014 yards this season.

"Compliance has this in a full review and so we'll have to wait and see what happens with that," coach Pete Carroll said. "I really can't tell you anything. I don't know anything more than that."

McKnight told the Times on Wednesday he has ridden in the Land Rover but never driven it. McKnight's girlfriend, Johana Michelle Beltran, works as a secretary for Schenter, he said.

"I know I can't drive cars I'm not supposed to," McKnight said. "If somebody said they spotted me driving, they're seeing wrong. I don't even have the keys."

McKnight and Beltran are the parents of a 10-month-old son, Jaiden. McKnight told the Times the Land Rover belonged to "my baby mama's boss."

"I never talk to her about it," he said of the SUV. "I just see it whenever my girlfriend's around with my kid. I ask no questions. I just do what I got to do

[hebroncougar]

Those excused are comical.

[traderumor]

I have all kinds of respect for a young father who actually refers to his girlfriend as "my baby mama."

[11larkin11]

And this is the last we'll hear of it...

[RBA]

I enjoy reading these threads. Those in glass houses....

[Scrap Irony]

USC is filthy dirty. What's crazy is that the athletes continue to flaunt the rules. You'd think Carroll would have told them to lie low after the Bush "investigation".

[OnBaseMachine]

USC is about as filthy dirty as every other program in the country.

[Boston Red]

The NCAA is so pissed about this that San Jose State may be facing the death penalty.

[traderumor]

No story here. The employer bought the SUV for the girlfriend. If Joe was driving it, then he was just being extended boyfriend privileges. Now, about that ocean front property in Arizona.

RBA,

Three Buckeyes were declared ineligible today for breaking team rules. A fourth, Devon Carter, was ineligible due to grades. Thought you might enjoy that. BTW, mud slinging does not break glass houses. There's plenty to go around.

A big difference I see is that the program I follow and support seems to deal with issues as they rear their ugly head, while another seems to bob and weave. Somehow, ESPN hasn't been treating the USC dirt the way it has a certain other program. Oh well, consider the source.

There's another axiom I like a lot--"you reap what you sow."