Under Fire, USC Drops Ball in Sports Perks Probe

NCAA expands Bush, Mayo investigation; school takes little action

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted May 31, 2009 6:32 AM CDT

Copied

Under Fire, USC Drops Ball in Sports Perks Probe — USC basketball player O.J. Mayo speaks to reporters as coach Tim Floyd listens. A former associate of Mayo, who is now in the NBA, said that Floyd paid to help get Mayo to play for the Trojans. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

Years after footballer Reggie Bush was accused of accepting gifts from marketers while at USC, the university is still doing almost nothing to investigate the matter, despite the spread of allegations to a top basketball player and coach, the Los Angeles Times reports. Though the NCAA has expanded its own probe—with potentially dire consequences for USC—school officials haven't spoken to a single key figure in the cases.

Those include some of the men who accused Bush and basketball player OJ Mayo of accepting cash and lavish gifts in flagrant violation of NCAA rules. “It did seem kind of bizarre that they didn't seek to speak to my client directly," said a lawyer for one of the accusers. "As far as I know, there has not been a single phone call."
(More University of Southern California stories.)

Report an error