Oregon Football Recruiting Scandal: Are the Ducks in Big Trouble?
These days it seems like there is no such thing as a clean program. With college athletics being the life blood of a university, it appears that everyone has their hands in the cookie jar, and the University of Oregon is no exception.
In a story first reported by Yahoo! Sports, Oregon has been caught paying out money to two different men to the sum total of $28,000. This news comes only three months after the Ducks' appearance in the BCS National Championship Game against the Auburn Tigers, who faced their own NCAA investigation for recruiting violations.
The story is still developing, but here is what we know...
1. Who Is Involved?
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According to the story, it appears that Oregon paid two men, Will Lyles and Baron Flenory, a sum total of $28,000. Lyles received $25,000, and Flenory received $3,745.
Lyles is the director of Complete Scouting Services in Houston, Texas, where he was serving as a mentor to highly touted running back recruit Lache Seastrunk.
Flenory, who runs the Badger Sports Elite 7-on-7 football camps, might be the more interesting of the two men. His football camps have been attended by famous Oregon players such as running back DeAnthony Thomas, defensive back Cliff Harris and receiver Tacoi Sumler. He also developed a personal relationship with new Ducks signee Anthony Wallace.
2.What Does It Mean?
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On the surface, these allegations mean nothing because the NCAA has to find out just how the money was used. When Rivals attempted to contact Lyles, they received no answer.
However, Flenory said the money was related to a recruiting package containing information on the prospective recruits which was sold to the university. Flenory claims that once they found they might be in violation of NCAA rules as a conflict of interest with the sports camps they offer, they stopped selling those packages.
Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but we know that these gentlemen had ties to players who signed with Oregon and received money in the last fiscal year. This could be unrelated, but in these cases, where there's smoke...there's usually fire.
3. What Are Recruiting Packages?
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This is important to the investigation because both men will more than likely contend that the money they received was for a recruiting package.
Flenory already said he was paid once for a package. The thought is that Lyles will do the same. The packages themselves are not illegal or in violation. Plenty of people sell these packages to schools to provide athletic departments with relevant information as well as video tape for schools to use to make decisions on to pursue the recruits.
The interesting part of Lyles payment comes in two parts:
First, he was paid shortly after the signing of new running back recruit Lache Seastrunk, with whom he had a personal relationship.
The second part is the price itself. ESPN reported that the going rate for these services is around $5,000 per season. This would make the $25,000 that Oregon paid to Lyles a bit suspicious. ESPN also spoke with a person who worked with Lyles claiming that the $25,000 is well above the $16,500 that the Ducks had previously paid
Again, this could be nothing, but it certainly raises a red flag.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
4.What Additional News Could Break?
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Again, the story is so new that we still have no definite explanation. Both men will more than likely stick to the story that these funds were for recruiting packages. However, the key for the parties involved will be proving it by providing invoices and receipts.
Of course, the NCAA should be looking through any financial records they can find to determine if previously undisclosed funds had been distributed in the past.
The NCAA became aware of this information through the State of Oregon financial expenditure records. So, there is a chance that the money was never directly reported to the NCAA and that there is a limit on what schools can spend on these types of services.
According to Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly this was not an issue:
"Most programs purchase recruiting services. Our compliance office is aware of it. Will has a recruiting service that met NCAA rules and we used him in 2010."
5. What Does It Mean for the 2011 Season?
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Until administrators make sense of the money that changed hands, there won't be any impact. However, if they find that these men were recruited illegally, there will most certainly be action from the NCAA.
If the violation was egregious enough or if it has been revealed that there is long history of violations, then the Ducks could face immediate fines and suspensions and even (like other Pac-10 powerhouse USC) lose bowl eligibility.
The story will continue to develop, and as it does, we'll begin to learn more of this whole investigation.
Even though these allegations look very suspicious, Oregon is praying this was just a false alarm.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
