JuiceDuice violating NCAA rules?

by MbahABako on Jan 23, 2008 7:39 AM PST

What do we have here... well look fellow BN'ers! It's another Trojan potentially violating NCAA rules. Let's see if this makes a peep on the NCAA radar. Here's the relevant portions about JuiceDuice from LA Times article:

USC freshman guard O.J. Mayo may have violated NCAA rules by accepting complimentary tickets from Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony to Monday's Lakers-Nuggets game at Staples Center.

Although USC compliance officials could not be reached for comment, NCAA bylaw 16.11.2.2.3 states that student-athletes may not receive "free or reduced-cost admission to professional athletics contests from professional sports organizations, unless such services also are available to the student body in general."

A couple of my favorite parts: Mayo said he didn't know where his seats were located until he took them to an usher, "and he kept walking down farther and farther and farther. The next thing you know, we had pretty good seats." Mayo was among the celebrities spotlighted during the national TNT broadcast. Does anyone else think it is total bullshiat that he didn't know where the seats were? That just sounds too flat out rehearsed.

And finally...

Anthony made the offer of tickets at a party he hosted Sunday night, Mayo said.

"I was talking to him like, 'Man, you're out pretty late. You've got a game tomorrow against Kobe [Bryant],' " Mayo said. "He said, 'Nah it will be all right.' And then he asked, 'You want to come to the game?' And I was like, 'Sure.' "

Out partying before a game against the Lakers and Kobe. Bad Carmelo, bad!

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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What?

Didn't you get the memo? Talking to 97-year-old men is a far greater concern to the NCAA than improper monetary benefits. Obviously talking to a living legend soils the credibility of collegiate athletics far more than paying your players with houses and airplane tickets or lavish courtside seats as "benefits".

by Tydides on Jan 23, 2008 8:03 AM PST reply actions

I am sure

Somewhere in Kansas City some secretary working in the NCAA building is typing up a letter of investigation for Ole SC. Right?

by bluestreet on Jan 23, 2008 8:04 AM PST up reply actions

Yeah

And we are supposed to believe OJ2 is an upstanding citizen who is just another "student athlete."

Cheating is in their blood.

by bluestreet on Jan 23, 2008 8:03 AM PST reply actions

what an idiot

that's just unbelievably stupid.

"when you've seen how big the world is, how can you make due with this?"

by silverlakebruin on Jan 23, 2008 9:26 AM PST reply actions

Small potatoes

If the NCAA could overlook Jarrett's free rent situation with Matt Leinart, they can toss this one aside as well. They'll just ask Mayo to reimburse the full cost of the tickets to a local Boys Club or something.

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment. John Wooden

by MexiBruin on Jan 23, 2008 10:27 AM PST reply actions

The location of the seats

was key to getting caught on camera, but irrelevant in terms of wrong-doing. His "defense" of not knowing where the seats were is beside the point.

As I understand it, it's not just illegal (NCAA-wise) to be given tickets for GREAT seats, unless they're given to all students. It's illegal to be given ANY tickets, unless they're given to all students.

In his mind, I suppose, if he had been sitting in the rafters with the common people, out of camera shot, it would have all been cool.

by Bruinut on Jan 23, 2008 11:26 AM PST reply actions

What a joke

So basically the NCAA's form of punishment is to allow OJ2 to tax deduct the value of the tix when he "donates" to a charity, just like Jarrett's case? Ridiculous...

by UCLA4Life on Jan 23, 2008 11:27 AM PST reply actions

The Tip of the Iceberg

I suspect that free tickets to Laker games is the least of what Mayo has received since coming to $C. The entire Mayo situation is shady - a top prospect, he mysteriously travels 3000 miles to play for a program that previously had nothing going for it.

It reminds of when Sharif Abdur Rahim moved from Atlanta to play for Cal because (supposedly) there were more mosques in the Bay Area! Later, it came out that then-Coach Todd Bozeman was paying his players and Bozeman got fired and temporarily banned by the NCAA.

I doubt that Timmeh and his boys will ever get caught, but the whole situation there is reminiscent of UNLV under Tark the Shark and Cincinnati under Bob Huggins, who coincidentally was seemingly the only other "bidder" for Mayo's services.

by bruin7982 on Jan 23, 2008 1:07 PM PST reply actions

and how did OJ2

end up at a party hosted by an NBA player? Granted, he and the rest of the Methuselahan "freshman" class at SC are all certainly of age to have a cocktail now and then without the fake IDs...

by palafox on Jan 23, 2008 2:50 PM PST up reply actions

Bozeman

His temporary ban was for 8 years. That is a pretty severe sentence. It is too bad that the NCAA seems to go wild over low-lying fruit (Love talks to Coach, RN plays a game of horse with a football recruit, etc) and can't seem to get worked up over any situation which actually might involve some effort on their part (like the crap at $C)

by islandbruin on Jan 23, 2008 7:06 PM PST up reply actions

The Spinning Begins

The spin machine is already hard at work. Espn reports "The NCAA could consider Anthony a friend who gave Mayo the tickets rather than a representative of the Nuggets, perhaps making the matter legal by NCAA standards."

I'm sure Reggie Bush considered Lake a friend when he was getting thousands of $$ in rent, cars, etc. as well.

by ucsbbruinfan on Jan 23, 2008 8:25 PM PST reply actions