USC caught CHEATING AGAIN

[Terrorblaze]

Shocking lol


http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4162444
Report: Floyd paid cash for Mayo

LOS ANGELES -- A former associate of NBA star O.J. Mayo says that Southern California basketball coach Tim Floyd paid a man who helped get Mayo to play for the Trojans, Yahoo! Sports reported on Tuesday.

Louis Johnson, the former associate of Mayo's, told the Web site that Rodney Guillory told him that Floyd had given Guillory "a grand." Johnson said he was able to view $100 bills inside an envelope Guillory had.


Last year on ESPN's "Outside the Lines," Johnson accused Guillory of providing Mayo with improper benefits while the guard played for USC.

Johnson said the payment occurred in 2007. Johnson was not present for the actual exhange, but Guillory reportedly told him that they were meeting Floyd to receive money that they could spend at All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. Johnson saw Guillory meet Floyd outside a cafe and drove around the block. When he picked up Guillory 15 minutes later he was shown the envelope containing money.

Yahoo! Sports reported Johnson has told NCAA investigators and federal authorities -- including the FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office -- that Floyd paid Guillory.

If Floyd did pay Guillory for delivering Mayo to USC, that would be a major NCAA violation.

Yahoo! Sports also reported that Southern California is the subject of an NCAA investigation into alleged improprieties in both the football and men's basketball programs.

The football probe stems from allegations of 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush receiving improper benefits for a sports marketing agent while at USC.

Guillory and Floyd declined to comment to Yahoo! about the latest accusations by Johnson.

USC general counsel Carol Mauch Amir also declined comment.

The NCAA does not comment about ongoing investigations.

Johnson had described Guillory as a "runner" who steered Mayo to the Bill Duffy Associates (BDA) sports agency. Johnson said Guillory received between $200,000 and $250,000 from BDA Sports for his efforts, which resulted in Mayo initially signing with BDA when he left USC after one season for the NBA in April 2008.

Mayo had switched to agent Leon Rose before he was drafted third overall by Memphis last year and was runner-up for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award to Chicago's Derrick Rose.

Johnson's attorneys, Anthony V. Salerno and David Murphy, confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that Johnson had told FBI, IRS and U.S. Attorney's Office investigators on May 28, 2008, about his account of the payment from Floyd to Guillory. Two weeks later, Johnson told the NCAA, according to the attorneys.

Salerno told Yahoo! Sports that Johnson's account to federal authorities carried the threat of potential prosecution if Johnson was found to be lying.

According to Johnson's attorneys, Johnson spoke with the NCAA last Friday morning at 10 a.m. PT. The conference call -- which lasted about an hour and a half -- included Johnson, his attorneys, two members of outside counsel representing USC and the two NCAA investigators who interviewed Johnson regarding Mayo last summer.

Salerno said the NCAA investigators prefaced their line of questioning by saying they "needed to tie up some loose ends."

"Our sense is that something is imminent," Salerno said. "I think the NCAA is very close to concluding their investigation. I would say it's looming large and soon."

[Fred]

i hope they get the hammer. I'm tired of these dirty coaches and programs. The NCAA seems to pick and choose which schools get harsh punishment and which don't.

[MannyBeltre]

It was only a matter of time before Floyd would be caught red handed at U$C. With DeRozan and the Sidney commits (before he ended up at Mississippi State), it put the program in question. I also love that when Mayo committed, Floyd said O.J. came to him. It would be absolutely ridiculous if Floyd stays on, so assuming he's gone, some coach now gets to take over a program with Lil Romeo on board for three more seasons lol.

[Fred]

'Lil romeo getting a scholarship was a complete joke. I don't think he started in h.s. and averaged like 3 ppg?

['Sider]

Lil Romeo......P's kid?

[moz]

Lil Romeo......P's kid?
yup

['Sider]

lol x alot

[Fred]

you don't know the story behind it? the dude sucks, and is no way a DIV I college player or maybe even DIVII. ANyways, Derozan (who was Romeo's best friend) hadn't committed anywhere. He was one of the top 3 h.s prospects in the country. Anyways, he decided to go to USC and somehow Romeo gets a scholarship to go there as well lol. Derozan was basically Masta P's son. He was always with him, and he had a lot of influence over him.

The funny part of it all was Master P opened up a magazine to talk about how great Romeo was at basketball and was the only mag to rate his son lol. After they decided on USC, the publication mystersiously disappeared lol.

[moz]

lol x infinity

[MannyBeltre]

you don't know the story behind it? the dude sucks, and is no way a DIV I college player or maybe even DIVII. ANyways, Derozan (who was Romeo's best friend) hadn't committed anywhere. He was one of the top 3 h.s prospects in the country. Anyways, he decided to go to USC and somehow Romeo gets a scholarship to go there as well lol. Derozan was basically Masta P's son. He was always with him, and he had a lot of influence over him.

The funny part of it all was Master P opened up a magazine to talk about how great Romeo was at basketball and was the only mag to rate his son lol. After they decided on USC, the publication mystersiously disappeared lol.

lol, every cover featured Romeo or DeRozan, saying that Romeo was top-15 in the country. Best part of it is that Master P tried to hide the fact he started up the magazine after Romeo got his scholarship.

I went to Udub, USC game when they retired Roy's number. We were up by like 14 with a minute left, so Floyd tells Romeo to get off the bench and check in. The student section was going crasy chanting "Romeo! Romeo! Romeo!" and whatnot, but all of a sudden Hackett buries two threes in a row with about thirty seconds left, and Floyd runs up and tells Romeo to sit back down lol.

['Sider]

lol, wow, what a waste of a scholarship

[Tokyoo]

Wait, so you're telling me fucking Lil Romeo can go to USC for free? He probably got like, an 800 on the goddamn SATs. Did he even go to high school? But then little old me would have to pay more than $50k a YEAR? Blasphemy. Goddamn blasphemy.

[MaSTA SoLIDUS]

The difference is, they got to get OJ Mayo for a year, and all they had to do was pay 50k or so. It is a business, I don't agree with the actual cash deal, but if you can get a great guy by getting a suck guy a free ride, that cash value is worth it to the program.

It's the nature of the beast now.

[Terrorblaze]

Tim Floyd Resigns

Tim Floyd resigns as coach at Southern California

Tim Floyd, who brought respectability on the court and controversy off it to the Southern California basketball program, resigned Tuesday.

Floyd stepped down a month after a published report that he gave $1,000 in cash to the man who acted as a go-between when star player O.J. Mayo decided to attend USC and play his freshman season at the school.

Mayo, who left USC after one season (2007-08) and played last season for the Memphis Grizzlies, is the subject of an NCAA investigation into whether he received improper benefits and whether Floyd or others at the school had any knowledge of that.

Floyd, 55, coached USC for four years, taking it to the NCAA tournament the last three seasons, including the Sweet 16 in 2007. He turned down the Arizona job two months ago, saying he hoped USC would be his last coaching job.

His resignation was first reported Tuesday by The Clarion Ledger of Jackson, Miss., which said it obtained the contents of a letter Floyd, a native of Hattiesburg, Miss., submitted to USC athletics director Mike Garrett. "Unfortunately, I no longer feel I can offer the level of enthusiasm to my duties that is deserved by the university, my coaching staff, my players, their families, and the supporters of Southern Cal," the letter said. "I always promised myself and my family that if I ever felt I could no longer give my full enthusiasm to a job, that I should leave it to others who could."

Garrett, through a statement, accepted Floyd's resignation and said he will quickly begin the search for a new basketball coach. Said Garrett, "I accept Tim's decision and wish him well."

Once considered a rising star in basketball coaching circles, Floyd's career has dimmed in recent months.

Floyd, 55, is the son of Lee Floyd, the late Southern Mississippi basketball coach.

Eleven years ago, after a successful stint at Iowa State, Floyd was tapped as Phil Jackson's successor with the Chicago Bulls, who had won six NBA titles in eight years.

But the Bulls were a shell of their former dynasty after the departure of Michael Jordan, and Floyd struggled, going 49-190 from 1999 to 2002. He coached the New Orleans Hornets to a 41-41 record in 2003-04.

Floyd had positioned himself for the Bulls job after successful college stints at Idaho (35-25 in two seasons), New Orleans (127-58 in six years, including two NCAA tournament appearances) and Iowa State (81-47 with three NCAA trips in four years). He was the first Cyclones coach to have three consecutive 20-win seasons and lead the team to three NCAA tournament first-round victories. The Cyclones were ranked as high as No. 4 for a time in 1997, and three of his teams at Iowa State finished in the Top 20.

Floyd was the Big Eight Conference coach of the year in 1996 and runner-up for Associated Press national coach of the year honors.

Over the past four seasons, Floyd brought USC back to prominence in the Pacific-10 Conference and nationally, posting an 85-50 record.

Last month, Yahoo Sports reported that one-time Mayo confidant Louis Johnson said Floyd had made a cash payment of $1,000 to Rodney Guillory, a "runner" for sports agent Bill Duffy, with whom Mayo later signed. He has since changed agents. The original investigation into Mayo became public in May of 2008, but Floyd was not directly implicated until recently.

A payment like the one Floyd is alleged to have made would be considered a major violation of NCAA rules.

USC's football program also has been under NCAA investigation in recent years for alleged illicit benefits accrued by 2005 Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush while he was at the school.

Todd Dickey, the school's senior vice president for administration, said in a statement Tuesday that the school is cooperating fully with the NCAA and Pac-10 in the continuing investigation into all allegations of NCAA and Pac-10 rules violations.

The school, NCAA and conference have jointly conducted interviews of approximately 50 witnesses, he said, but no conclusions have been reached.

While the football program is expected once again to be among the nation's elite, the basketball program has suffered serious blows with the loss of several current and prospective players.

Freshman star DeMar DeRozan and two juniors made themselves available for the NBA draft.

According to the Los Angeles Times, high school forward Solomon Hill changed his oral commitment and signed with Arizona. Star prospect Renardo Sydney, a forward once thought to be headed to USC, signed with Mississippi State. Floyd told the Times the "university would not bring (Sydney) in" because the player might bring more scrutiny from the NCAA. A family spokesman told the Times the decision was by "mutual agreement."

Also, Noel Johnson, a recruit from Georgia, asked out of his letter of intent, said the Times.

lol

[Fred]

lol x 2

[MannyBeltre]

I was so happy when I found out, guy was such an asshole when he was coaching.

Sadly, supposedly USC is offering up Floyd as a "sacrificial lamb" to the NCAA as a way to avoid much with their football program. It would be a great day if that program caught punished for once.

[LVradio]

lol x 2
Not your favorite Bulls coach, was he Fred? lol


oh btw,

lol x 3