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(Isn't Watson at South Carolina State this year ?)
SEC's image as NCAA outlaw worsens with South Carolina case
By Rusty Hampton
[email protected]
IN CASE you missed the news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that NCAA investigators have found their way to Columbia and the campus of the University of South Carolina.
Cha-ching!
Rack up another one for the SEC.
For those keeping score at home, that moves the Sure, Everybody Cheats conference past the half-way point in the race for 100 percent participation.
There's still room left in the pool, but it's filling up fast. Only five more to go and the SEC will have perfect attendance.
Kentucky and Alabama are on probation and facing heavy sanctions.
Meanwhile, the football programs at Mississippi State, Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee and now South Carolina are being examined for potential improprieties.
Wow, isn't college football fun. The pagentry. The traditions. The shiny new SUVs.
Grad student's SUV
According to the Atlanta paper, one thing the NCAA is looking into at South Carolina is why former Gamecock star tailback Derek Watson was driving a $60,000 Cadillac Escalade in 1999, just months after signing a letter of intent to play for South Carolina.
The paper's report says the SUV was registered to a South Carolina graduate named Pierce Cauthen, who declined to discuss why his luxury automobile was being driven by a future South Carolina football player.
A school spokesman told the AJC that South Carolina self-reported Watson's use of the SUV as a violation, declared him ineligibleand apealed to the NCAA for his re-instatement. The spokesman said after Watson "made restitution" for the use of the Caddy his eligibility was restored.
Unfortunately for Mississippi State, the NCAA didn't go quite as easy last week on quarterback Kevin Fant, who was suspended for the season-opening loss at Oregon for his dealings with a booster.
Fant wasn't caught driving a booster's fancy wheels; instead he was driving on new tires that a booster helped him purchase. Technically, the NCAA ruled the booster didn't provide an improper benefit because Fant's mother paid for the tires. Fant was penalized because he telephoned the booster and asked for help in the form of a credit card number that was used to secure the tires.
Booster-phobia
The common denominator in the two cases: A booster and an athlete.
Anyone who owns a stadium cushion knows mixing boosters with athletes produces a collision at the corner of ego and need that results in instant gratification but long-term suffering.
For years, boosters have been providing extra benefits for athletes.
For years, the NCAA has been investigating the incidents and sending schools to the slammer.
For years, boosters have been dispatched as well. In NCAA jargon, the schools "dissasociate" the booster from their program. The booster gets his/her name in the paper and is told by the school to take a hike.
You'd think other boosters would learn, but they don't.
According to MSU's self-report to the NCAA, Fant met the booster whom he called for help during a "Fan Day" event three years ago. The report says the same day Fant called the booster about the tires he had talked to him earlier in the day about a summer job.
Boosters and summer jobs are cool ? when handled right. Credit cards for new tires? That's a no-no.
Too many schools have allowed their boosters to get too close to their players. The result is that a kid in need doesn't think twice about picking up the phone and placing a call that can land him in trouble.
It's a culture the SEC better change unless it's comfortable with its new image: Sure, Everybody Cheats.
SEC's image as NCAA outlaw worsens with South Carolina case
By Rusty Hampton
[email protected]
IN CASE you missed the news, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that NCAA investigators have found their way to Columbia and the campus of the University of South Carolina.
Cha-ching!
Rack up another one for the SEC.
For those keeping score at home, that moves the Sure, Everybody Cheats conference past the half-way point in the race for 100 percent participation.
There's still room left in the pool, but it's filling up fast. Only five more to go and the SEC will have perfect attendance.
Kentucky and Alabama are on probation and facing heavy sanctions.
Meanwhile, the football programs at Mississippi State, Arkansas, LSU, Tennessee and now South Carolina are being examined for potential improprieties.
Wow, isn't college football fun. The pagentry. The traditions. The shiny new SUVs.
Grad student's SUV
According to the Atlanta paper, one thing the NCAA is looking into at South Carolina is why former Gamecock star tailback Derek Watson was driving a $60,000 Cadillac Escalade in 1999, just months after signing a letter of intent to play for South Carolina.
The paper's report says the SUV was registered to a South Carolina graduate named Pierce Cauthen, who declined to discuss why his luxury automobile was being driven by a future South Carolina football player.
A school spokesman told the AJC that South Carolina self-reported Watson's use of the SUV as a violation, declared him ineligibleand apealed to the NCAA for his re-instatement. The spokesman said after Watson "made restitution" for the use of the Caddy his eligibility was restored.
Unfortunately for Mississippi State, the NCAA didn't go quite as easy last week on quarterback Kevin Fant, who was suspended for the season-opening loss at Oregon for his dealings with a booster.
Fant wasn't caught driving a booster's fancy wheels; instead he was driving on new tires that a booster helped him purchase. Technically, the NCAA ruled the booster didn't provide an improper benefit because Fant's mother paid for the tires. Fant was penalized because he telephoned the booster and asked for help in the form of a credit card number that was used to secure the tires.
Booster-phobia
The common denominator in the two cases: A booster and an athlete.
Anyone who owns a stadium cushion knows mixing boosters with athletes produces a collision at the corner of ego and need that results in instant gratification but long-term suffering.
For years, boosters have been providing extra benefits for athletes.
For years, the NCAA has been investigating the incidents and sending schools to the slammer.
For years, boosters have been dispatched as well. In NCAA jargon, the schools "dissasociate" the booster from their program. The booster gets his/her name in the paper and is told by the school to take a hike.
You'd think other boosters would learn, but they don't.
According to MSU's self-report to the NCAA, Fant met the booster whom he called for help during a "Fan Day" event three years ago. The report says the same day Fant called the booster about the tires he had talked to him earlier in the day about a summer job.
Boosters and summer jobs are cool ? when handled right. Credit cards for new tires? That's a no-no.
Too many schools have allowed their boosters to get too close to their players. The result is that a kid in need doesn't think twice about picking up the phone and placing a call that can land him in trouble.
It's a culture the SEC better change unless it's comfortable with its new image: Sure, Everybody Cheats.
