New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas for 39 collegiate athletic departments in a probe of their relationships with student loan providers. At its most basic, this investigation is asking whether or not cash, kickbacks, gifts and other bribes or misleading measures were communicated between various student loan providers and the cited athletic departments.
Cuomo is investigating whether athletic departments at these universities agreed to promote SFS loans to students in exchange for kickbacks.
"Students trust their University's athletic departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers around supporting the home team," said Cuomo. "To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue, especially when Division I schools already generate tremendous revenue from their student athletes. Today's action is an important new step as we continue to examine the unethical conflicts that pervade the student loan industry.
"The Attorney General's office is specifically investigating whether athletic departments evaluated UFS interest rates before recommending their federal loans, or if their endorsement of UFS was based purely on payments from the lender. Such an arrangement would constitute revenue sharing, which is a violation New York state consumer protection laws, as well as a violation of federal law.
D-IA football schools named (prominent schools in bold): Arkansas State, Auburn, Bowling Green, Central Michigan, Colorado State, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Ohio, Oregon State, Rutgers, TCU, Tulane, Alabama-Birmingham, UCLA, UCF, Houston, Kansas, Louisville, Oregon, Pittsburgh, USF, UTEP. See link for complete list.
It's good that athletic departments have an awareness of and working relationship with loan providers, but obviously there's a problem when that relationship gets too cozy and bad loan options are pressed upon students and student-athletes.
A week ago, Jim Harbaugh caused a bit of a brouhaha when he told a reporter that Pete Carroll would be gonzo after this year:
"He's only got one more year, though. He'll be there one more year. That's what I've heard. I heard it (from) inside the staff."
Fans of teams other than USC all said a little prayer that it was true, then Carroll responded as snippily as you might expect:
"If he's going to make statements like that, he ought to get his information right," Carroll told the Los Angeles Times. "And if he has any questions about it, he should call me."
Rowr! Not a bad way to start off in the Pac-10, Jim. If you're losing 77-3 at the end of your first game against USC (and you will be) and Carroll's still running flea-flickers, that's probably why. But does this scare Harbaugh? Nein!
"It's been widely publicized that he has interviewed for other jobs, and that is what I've heard," Harbaugh said Monday. "I definitely said that. But we bow to no man. We bow to no program here at Stanford University."
(Especially the Tree, because if the Tree bows he'll probably hurl and then fall over.) It's refreshing to have a coach that doesn't have any truck with leaden coachspeak and everyone hopes dearly that Harbaugh's team can back up his brash talk but we'll believe it when we see it. Even if he is the most awesome Michigan quarterback ever.
Reggie Bush makes his MTV debut in Ciara's new video, which features a moment that would make Tim Hardaway's head explode:
Now, if you're me, for a moment early in the video you thought that Reggie Bush was in a dress and wig facing away from the camera and you were sexually attracted to his fantastic, lithe legs despite not caring about the Saints even a little bit. And then Ciara turned around and you exhaled.
When one of the biggest busts in recent draft history happens to be a hulking receiver from USC with speed question marks and you happen to be a hulking receiver from USC with speed question marks, you probably get antsy when people start putting two and two together. So it's not a surprise that the Detroit News picked up on a little prickliness from Jarrett, no doubt when some media flack asked him why anyone would bother drafting Mike Williams again:
"The only thing we have in common was that we went to the same school," Jarrett said. "I think we're two opposite players with totally different personalities."
Jarrett said he didn't seek any advice from Williams.
"We really don't speak," Jarrett said.
No word on whether the same media member asked Brady Quinn about his relationship with Rick Mirer.
And yet another ProFootballTalk unsubstanstiated rumor goes to the grave.
To take a phrase from fellow NCAA FanHaus-er Brian Cook, the Carroll to the Chargers talk was always one of those "no doy" offseason stories. Take one part meddling NFL owner with one part power mad GM with one part poorly run organization (until the last 2-3 years) with one part extremely successful college coach who gets to call his own shots. Mix together for one second and you have a rumor that's dead on arrival.
USC coach Pete Carroll says he's "not going anywhere" and likes where he is, meaning he won't be a candidate for the San Diego Chargers head coaching job, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Friday. The Chargers and Carroll did communicate about the opening to replace Marty Schottenheimer, the newspaper reported, but the Trojans coach never said he was interested.
The thing we have to remember with Carroll is that he was burned by the NFL experience. Any opportunity would have to surrender a great deal of control to him. Back in his more ambitious days he took two dead-end jobs first with the Jets that lasted a single season and then the three-year stint with the Patriots.
His whole sunny disposition thing didn't go down real well with the dour New England media and fan base, but the guy won (28-23 record on a post Super Bowl team). Most current NFL coaches would kill for his record at New England but for that the lingering Carroll rap to this day is that he ran the franchise into the ground (nevermind the shoddy GM work from one Bobby Grier). Welcome to the NFL.
Think Carroll's going to leave total control at one of college football's three most powerful institutions for something like the Chargers job? No way. He knows better.
In other words, time to press that reset button college football fans, Carroll's here for at least another year with the all-but-guaranteed preseason No. 1 team. The slings and arrows of investigation and suspicion hover over the USC program but the head man appears to be staying at least through this season with what should be one of his best teams yet.
Nothing's been formally announced, but signs seem to indicate that ballyhooed former Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain is strongly considering transferring to USC.
He visits USC this week and has already been briefed in specifics what his situation will be like.
Arkansas quarterback Mitch Mustain arrives shortly and there won't be any misunderstandings, especially after he is on the verge of transferring after one season.
"We've laid it out to him," a source said. "Plain and simple. We aren't sugarcoating anything."
Doesn't sound like USC is making any promises or guarantees.
With that out of the way, we should soon see whether or not he ends up in Los Angeles. I'm guessing both parties learned a few lessons from his Arkansas experience and the consequences of unfulfilled guarantees. Mustain's former high school and Arkansas teammate Damian Williams also recently transferred to USC.
As a transfer he would have to sit a year before regaining eligibility as a redshirt sophomore in 2008. At that point John David Booty will have graduated and his competition will be redshirt junior Mark Sanchez and this year's recruit Aaron Corp who would be a redshirt freshman or a true sophomore.
Continuing our moment of idle speculation here, this interesting trivia should be noted: if Mustain indeed transfers to USC, the Trojans will have signed each of the last four Parade Magazine All America Players of the Year. They are tailback Joe McKnight (who shares the award this year with Notre Dame-bound quarterback Jimmy Clausen), Mustain, quarterback Mark Sanchez and offensive lineman Jeff Byers.
Mustain famously ran for a touchdown after completing a 41-yard pass against USC in his first collegiate appearance last year.
Let's try a little exercise for a moment here. Close your eyes and think of a 'crooked' college football program. What comes to mind? USC? Florida State? Ohio State? Alright now close your eyes and think of a 'clean' college football program. Now what comes to mind? Penn State probably tops that list what with Joe Paterno and all the talk of doing things the right way, right?
But is there really a significant ethical difference between many of these schools?
Let's take a closer look at Penn State for a moment. They've spent the greater part of four decades cultivating an image as college football's white picket fence and apple pie team. They are led by the amiable, cuddly and grandfatherly Joe Paterno, among the most respected coaches in the game's history. They wear simple blue and white uniforms without names on the backs. They play in gritty central Pennsylvania and graduate their players.
But beneath that veneer is just enough to make you wonder.
The big recruiting hoopla this week was over USC's alleged recruiting violation in pursuit of Joe McKnight. USC coach Pete Carroll allegedly had McKnight directly or indirectly speak with Reggie Bush, a no-no per NCAA rules as Bush and all former players are considered boosters.
Well guess what, Penn State is perhaps just as guilty of a similar violation. When the Nittany Lions hosted tailback Broderick Green a few weekends ago, he met at least two former Nittany Lion players: Larry Johnson Jr. and Tamba Hali.
Broderick Green took an official visit to Penn State two weeks ago and came back very excited about his time in Happy Valley. He got to speak with Larry Johnson Jr. and Tamba Hali as the two were in town for the weekend.
"He called me from Penn State and he was so excited," [Green's Mother Wilma] Mrs. Murdock told BWI. "When he wasn't calling me, I was calling him. He loved the place and fell in love with the players."
Exsqueeze me? Whistle blowing time here. Based on what we've learned from the Joe McKnight situation this sounds like a similar recruiting violation. Last I checked Hali and Johnson are big name former Nittany Lions who are clearly classified as Boosters in NCAA rulespeak.
Noticeably absent is the requisite media firestorm about this apparent violation.
Update: Several commenters add that for various technicalities this is in fact not a violation. Apparently booster contact is illegal, except when it isn't illegal. Iike I wrote yesterday, welcome to the hell that is NCAA bylaws.
This year's signing day was unprecedented in its wackiness. Notre Dame now hates the last name "Little," as both Chris and Greg decommitted for more southerly climes. Indiana safety Jerimy Finch was going to Michigan, then IU, then Florida. Markish Jones and Robert Broyles battled for the title of Least Decisive Person in the Universe. All told, dozens of committed recruits ended up signing with teams other than the ones they had "committed" to. You can chalk this up to cutthroat boys being cutthroat boys, but how irritating must it be to be a guy like UCLA recruit Brian Price?
The black car idled outside Crenshaw High, waiting to whisk Brian Price to USC.
Price, a highly regarded defensive lineman, had committed to UCLA months before and had told USC coaches he was not interested in an official visit to their campus.
USC scheduled one anyway - and sent the conspicuous vehicle to deliver Price to Heritage Hall last month.
No means no, Pete Carroll. (Unless you're a running back, in which case "no" means "take me, Pete, and ravish me like I've never been ravished before!") College coaches increasingly resemble jilted ex-girlfriends. My favorite unsupported-but-not-entirely-implausible rumor from the last few days was the one where two Notre Dame assistants show up at Martez Wilson's house and refuse to leave until Wilson's mom calls the cops. Did that actually happen? Probably not. Could it? Uh... yeah.
It's time for an early signing period, or better yet, an extended signing period that stretches from September to February. Are you committed? Okay: sign this piece of paper and see you in the fall. No more last second shocking decommits, as anyone who's still on the market isn't a commit. No more sweet serenades outside the homes of coveted recruits who have tried to tell you that it's, like, over, okay?
That's all I can conclude at this point. He decides that Arkansas is no longer the place for him after the Razorbacks don't run his high school offense, run-off his old coach, and bench him. Now it seems that Mitch Mustain might be serious about transferring to Southern Cal after his season at Arkansas. Apparently now that another member of the Springdale High Mafia has gone to USC, Mustain might want to follow. I guess because he likes being unhappy and having at best a 50-50 chance of ever being the starter.
Did Mustain look at the depth chart at QB for USC? Sure, he's sitting out the 2007 season, but there's no guarantee J.D. Booty will leave after next season. Even if Booty does go, there is still Matt "Dirty" Sanchez -- who would also be a redshirt junior. And like Mustain he was an OMG-VHT QB prospect. To say nothing of a member of this 2007 recruiting class, QB Aaron Corp. Only another top-ranked QB prospect. Come 2008, he might well be competing hard for the job.
I realize, top-level players have the supreme confidence in their abilities, so I guess I can believe he believes he can beat them all. Still, this just seems dumb. He couldn't keep the job in Arkansas, and never seemed to fully grasp that Darren McFadden was the best player out there. So now he wants to go to USC where they have more than a couple big running back talents ready to carry a large load?
Stop the games and just transfer to Tulsa where your old HS coach is.
Per the request of our fine editors at AOL corporate, us NCAA Football types at the FanHouse were asked to list 2007 "impact recruits". Seeing as how National Letter of Intent Day (aka Signing Day) is tomorrow, this request is timely.
What defines impact? A John Madden-like BOOM ? Nahhh.
The instructions from our bosses are intentionally vague which I like. So what follows are the first five of ten impact recruits. My main criteria is to name players people will be talking about. So while some recruits may be better or more interesting, these are ten guys who will get noticed.
John Chiles, Athlete (Texas) - Chiles played quarterback, running back ... pretty much everything in high school. He's fast, has ball skills and makes plays. Colt McCoy probably has the quarterback position locked down for a few years so look for the Texas staff to creatively find ways to get the ball in his hands. Video.
Chris Galippo, Linebacker (USC) - Galippo was last seen making somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 tackles at the US Army High School All America game in January. He's already college size (6'-3"/235 pounds) with speed and the ability to play inside, outside or even defensive end. Oozes leadership as he doggedly helped recruit several future teammates. Video.
Ryan Miller, Offensive Tackle (Colorado) - Had offers from literally everyone of significance, but chose the hometown Buffaloes. Should be able to make an Andre Smith-like impact on an otherwise modestly talented Colorado line.
Terrance Toliver, Wide Receiver (LSU or Florida) - Toliver is expected to be the next great "big and athletic" receiver in the mold of Dwayne Jarrett and Charles Rogers. Runs fast, has a big body, can make plays in the air, he can do a lot of things and should have a fantastic college career. Video.
Willy Korn, Quarterback (Clemson) - Korn saw his stock drop a bit over the course of the fall but he's got a chance to start next year for Clemson. Korn can scramble as well as throw the ball. With Clemson's tremendous backfield his burden will be lightened. Could be leading one of the country's best offenses from the word go. People will definitely be talking about him if he wins the job and plays well early. Video.
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has issued subpoenas for 39 collegiate athletic departments in a probe of their relationships with student loan providers. At its most basic, this investigation is asking whether or not cash, kickbacks, gifts and other bribes or misleading measures were communicated between various student loan providers and the cited athletic departments.
A week ago, Jim Harbaugh caused a bit of a brouhaha when he told a reporter that Pete Carroll would be 
When one of the biggest busts in recent draft history happens to be a hulking receiver from USC with speed question marks and you happen to be a hulking receiver from USC with speed question marks, you probably get antsy when people start putting two and two together. So it's not a surprise that the Detroit News picked up on 
This year's signing day was unprecedented in its wackiness. Notre Dame now 
That's all I can conclude at this point. He decides that Arkansas is no longer the place for him after the Razorbacks don't run his high school offense, run-off his old coach, and bench him. Now it seems that Mitch 
