UCLA Bruins Football Not Immune To Bad NCAA Behavior

Any mention of player arrests or shady off-field activity with regard to football in Los Angeles tends to find its way to USC.

After all, the Trojans' football program, now led by Lane Kiffin, is in the midst of a period of probation. Scholarships have been revoked, wins and titles have been stripped from the record books, and bowl appearances have been disallowed following years of NCAA investigations into improper benefits granted to former Heisman winner Reggie Bush by outside sources.

Admittedly, there was a good deal of Schadenfreude floating about across town in the wake of these announcements. The Bruin faithful couldn't help but take comfort in USC's fall from grace.

Not after years of losing to a boastful and arrogant Trojan squad and enduring the heckling from cardinal-and-gold-clad fans that came with each and every defeat.

The fallout from this past summer has seemingly lent credence to the sense of moral superiority that UCLA football fans possess over those who relished the apparently-fraudulent Pete Carroll glory years downtown.

However, the recent stories surrounding agents paying college football players proves once again that no school—not even a shining beacon of integrity like UCLA—is immune to misconduct, both on and off the field.

Case in point, Sports Illustrated recently published a story about Josh Luchs, a former mid-level football agent who often paid college players and provided them with other goods and services, against NCAA regulations, as a means of enticing them to sign on with him as clients after their collegiate careers were over.

This piece emerged out in the wake of violations coming to light at North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, that were perpetrated by Gary Wichard, a sports agent who once employed Luchs.

In the article, Luchs describes his career as a sports agent, dropping a variety of names of players he had contact with in some way or another, many of whom accepted benefits from him and/or other agents against NCAA regulations.

In particular, he goes into some detail about getting his actual start in the business by recruiting players from UCLA, while Rick Neuheisel was an assistant coach for the Bruins no less.

Among the Bruins he mentions having contact with are Jonathan Ogden, Sean LaChapelle, Bruce Walker, Vaughn Parker, Carl Greenwood, Othello Henderson, Jamir Miller, Matt Soenksen, and Chris Alexander. All of these players received some benefit or other from Luchs, though not all of them hired him as an agent.

He even mentions trying to lure former star receiver JJ Stokes with cash–an attempt that didn't exactly prove to be fruitful, since Stokes did not accept the money.

Of course, Luchs goes on to discuss his improper contact with players from other schools, including a number of Trojans.

So what's the point of all this?

Well, as anyone who follows college football these days knows, these kinds of activities still go on.

Luchs was in the business up until 2005. The Reggie Bush investigation was wrapped up only a few months ago.

It may be controversial to suggest, but if this kind of activity is or has been going on recently across town, who's to say it isn't still happening in Westwood?

Who's to say there aren't agents snooping around Spaulding Field, offering cash, gifts, trips, and nights out to 18-to-22-year-olds who don't have time to work and don't have enough disposable income to live the lives they want?

Sure, a lot has changed since the days when Josh Luchs snooped along the sidelines at UCLA back in the '90s.

But, judging by the recent suspensions at and likely-impending sanctions against schools in the South, courtesy of Gary Wichard, the change may be more in the ways and types of gifts given rather than them being given at all.

To be clear, that's not to say that there definitely and verifiably is misconduct taking place at UCLA, but rather to suggest that it's certainly still within the realm of possibility.

And that it's certainly not the fault of one coach or another, whether it be Rick Neuheisel, or Karl Dorrell before him, or Bob Toledo before him.

Because wherever college football players play, there will be agents looking to represent them.

And wherever there are agents, vying for clients and favoring the whims of the market over the NCAA rule book, there is a distinct possibility that violations have taken, are taking, and will take place.

Not only at UCLA and USC, but also at any and every college campus that sends young men onto the gridiron on Saturdays.