USC Football: Tosh Lupoi Under Investigation for NCAA Violations at Washington

Current Washington defensive line coach and recruiting guru Tosh Lupoi is under investigation for NCAA recruiting violations, according to Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. 

Klein reports that Lupoi allegedly paid for private tutoring and online classes for Washington defensive line recruit Andrew Basham:

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Mike Davis, a throwing coach who helped Basham win a state shotput title, told The Times that Tosh Lupoi, Washington’s defensive line coach, gave him $3,000 to cover private tutoring for Basham through a test preparation company. Davis said he also received $1,500 from Lupoi to reimburse Basham’s father for online classes Andrew could use to raise his grade-point average.

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Basham ultimately signed with UW but never joined the program due to academic ineligibility. The report also said that USC is confident new head coach Steve Sarkisian was unaware of the incident.

Due to the ongoing investigation, Sarkisian has hit a snag in finalizing his coaching staff. Two weeks ago when he was hired, it was thought that Lupoi was a lock for the now-vacant defensive line coaching position with USC. Even then, there were rumors that USC's Compliance Department had blocked the hire. Klein's report illuminates why that was the case. 

Lupoi had been publicly weighing his options of staying in Washington or leaving for USC. One report even suggested that he has been steering UW commits to USC, something he allegedly did when he left Cal for Washington two years ago. 

With USC still under NCAA sanctions, the athletic department will want to stay as far away as possible from any more scandals. According to Klein's report, Lupoi is no longer in consideration for the job:

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A USC person with knowledge of the process said Lupoi’s chance of being hired by USC was now “less than zero.” The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the situation and requested anonymity.

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If that ends up being the case, USC finds itself between a rock and a hard place while Sarkisian tries to assemble his staff. The chances that fan favorite Ed Orgeron returns to Troy are slim to none, and Lupoi was the front-runner for the job. 

Lupoi denied the allegations via text message to the LA Times. 

So far, no new candidates have been publicly named as USC targets for the defensive line coaching job.