The Oregon Situation Is Only a Symptom of the NCAA’s Growing Problem
Posted on March 7, 2011 by Jacob Bunn
The latest report of the NCAA investigating college football recruiting does not, believe it or not, focus on Auburn, at least not directly. Nope, this one is about Oregon.
ESPN.com writers Joe Schad and Mark Schlabach broke a story late Thursday stating that the NCAA is looking into whether or not a man from Texas, Willie Lyles, helped influence the decision of running back Lache Seastrunk to play football at Oregon. Lyles had previously worked with Oregon as part of a recruiting service. According to this report, a person who worked with Lyles said the payment this time was $25,000, which is more than the amount of money he had received previously. And, he received that income shortly after Seastrunk signed with Oregon.
This certainly does not pass the proverbial “smell test.” More than that, though, it underlines an issue in college football, and college athletics for that matter, that does not seem to be going away. The emergence of street agents has caused concern to several influential figures in the world of college football.
In a report by Pete Thamel of the New York Times, former Florida coach Urban Meyer, Texas coach Mack Brown, and Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly were quoted as they expressed concerns about th-e future of college football recruiting in general.
The main source of this angst is the continued aggression by individuals looking to profit off prospects making their college choices. These third parties are often referred to as runners or street agents.
In Oregon’s case, Lyles, a trainer, was involved with a recruiting service when his services were sought, which in and of itself is perfectly legal. Influencing college prospects’ decisions, on the other hand, is very much outside of the rules.
This is certainly not just an isolated incident. The report by ESPN.com also stated that Lyles has been involved with the recruitment of athletes to other schools including Auburn, Baylor, LSU, Oklahoma State, USC, and Texas A&M. So, Oregon may be at the center of this story, but it may not be the extent of it.
In January, Thayer Evans of FoxSports.com wrote a piece about recruiting practices taking place in Louisiana. That particular story focused on Sean Nelson of Thibodeaux, who reportedly drove then prospects Greg Robinson and Trevon Reed to Auburn. Both players eventually signed with Auburn.
In the highly publicized saga concerning the recruitment of former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton, it was determined that Kenny Rogers, a former Mississippi State player, had a conversation with Cecil Newton, Cam’s father, about a potential payment in exchange for Cam Newton’s letter of intent. An ESPN.com report published on September 2, 2010, states that Rogers worked with Ian Greengross, an agent who is under investigation by the NFLPA.
The NCAA has asked Oregon to turn over documentation concerning its payment for and use of Lyles and his services. To some, this may appear to be a lot of smoke without a fire. And while that may turn out to be true, there is reason to be concerned if you are an Oregon enthusiast.
Broader than that, there is reason for unease about this issue nationwide. Expect the NCAA to be extremely vigilant in the coming months about addressing this growing problem. Every program needs to monitor its recruits in order to know whether or not agents and runners are involved. The NCAA recognized the problem in college basketball and established a task force to deal with it. The organization is reportedly looking to do the same for football.
Will this be an epidemic that will overtake college football? No one can answer that certainly. It is a problem, though, about which some influential individuals are concerned.
Contact Jacob Bunn via email at jacob@bunnsports.com
