NCAA will make ‘inquiry’ at Georgia (UPDATED)
(Last updated 1:05 a.m. Thursday)
HOOVER, Ala. –- The NCAA, in the midst of a crackdown on improper dealings between college football players and agents, informed the University of Georgia late Wednesday afternoon that it will send investigators to campus to conduct an “inquiry.”
The probe is believed to be the latest in a recent string of NCAA investigations looking into possible improper benefits received by college football players from agents.
Investigations are known to be underway at North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Alabama.
Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton confirmed Wednesday’s call from the NCAA and said UGA Athletic Association officials responded by pledging full cooperation.
Felton said the NCAA requested that UGA officials, coaches and student-athletes refrain from further comment on the matter “until the inquiry is completed.” Georgia interim athletic director Frank Crumley declined to comment when reached by the AJC.
The NCAA’s call to Georgia officials in Athens came as the SEC was wrapping up the first session of its annual media days event in Hoover, Ala., where the hot topic was the widespread recent allegations of improper agent activity.
“It’s epidemic right now,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “I think it’s always been there, from what I understand. . . . But I think we’ve reached a point where the size of college football, the magnitude of college football right now, [it] is really overwhelming.”
The NCAA is investigating whether Alabama defensive lineman Marcell Dareus broke NCAA rules by attending a sports agent’s party on Miami’s South Beach during Memorial Day weekend, and NCAA investigators also have interviewed North Carolina players, including defensive tackle Marvin Austin, and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders about the same party.
In addition, the NCAA is looking into an allegation that former Florida offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey accepted $100,000 from an agent’s representative between last season’s SEC Championship Game and the Sugar Bowl –- an allegation that Pouncey has strongly denied and called “absolutely ridiculous.”
Georgia’s highest-profile pro prospect, junior wide receiver A.J. Green, told SI.com on Tuesday, the day before the NCAA’s call to UGA, that he was not at the South Beach party that triggered investigations at three schools. Green said he spent Memorial Day weekend at home in Summerville, S.C., and that he was asked about the party by a Georgia compliance official on Tuesday.
“I never went to South Beach,” Green said.
Former Georgia wide receiver Michael Moore, Green’s teammate the past two seasons, said Wednesday night on Twitter: “Hahaha. This talk about A.J. is hilarious. That country boy ain’t never been to Miami!!! You can put those rumors to rest.”
It is not clear whether the NCAA informed Georgia which player or players it plans to interview.
NCAA rules prohibit college players from signing contracts with, or accepting benefits from, agents. If a player is found to have done so, he could face loss of college eligibility. If the NCAA finds that the school knew, or should have known, about the matter, the institution also could be penalized.
“At the conclusion of the process, when the facts are known, appropriate determinations will be made as to the amateurism status of the student-athlete and whether the institution was aware or should have been aware of the improper conduct based on existing NCAA rules,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said Wednesday, speaking in generalities and not about any specific case.
Slive added: “Given the surreptitious nature of these matters, it is difficult, if not impossible, for institutions to know what might have taken place. . . . My point is, this isn’t done on Main Street at noon with a compliance officer sitting there. Our schools work very hard. We’ve talked about this issue over and over. We’ve brought experts in. Our schools do everything they can to educate student-athletes about what they should and shouldn’t do.”
Georgia coach Mark Richt and three players -– Green, punter Drew Butler and fullback Shaun Chapas -– are scheduled to arrive at media days Thursday morning for appearances before almost 1,000 media members here.
The NCAA’s recent focus on agent activity, dubbed AgentGate by some, was much-discussed during the opening session of the SEC’s annual three-day media event Wednesday.
Alabama coach Nick Saban was most outspoken on the topic, exuding anger from the podium at the Wynfrey Hotel.
Although not excluding players from responsibility, Saban said agents are “entrapping and taking advantage of young people at a difficult time in their life” and should be banned from the agent business for a year if they endanger college players’ eligibility with improper inducements.
“I don’t think it’s anything but greed that is creating it right now on behalf of the agents,” Saban said. “Agents that do this, I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people -– none. I mean, none. How would you feel if they did it to your child?”
Slive called for a national re-examination of the agent issue, saying: “This is a national problem that calls for a national agent strategy for college athletics.” He said an NCAA committee should take an outside-the-box look at the issue.
“Dealing with improper agent conduct has been a challenge for a long time,” Slive said. “Not only for intercollegiate athletics, but also for the many good agents who try to follow the rules. It is time to reexamine the NCAA rules that relate to agents.”
After the story broke late Wednesday of the NCAA’s inquiry at Georgia, former Bulldogs linebacker Rennie Curran, who gave up his final season of college eligibility to enter this year’s NFL draft, addressed the matter on his Twitter account.
“Can’t believe how hard the ncaa is trying to crack down on college athletes,” Curran tweeted. “How can [you] expect someone not to look to outside sources…”
Continuing on his next tweet, Curran wrote: “… when there are video games being made of you, your jerseys getting sold, your family is struggling [and] you don’t even get a dime except pell [grant].”
Please follow @ajcuga on Twitter for updates.
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365 comments Add your comment
TUCK FECH
July 21st, 2010
11:06 pm
GT79 mutard yellow is horrible..The JOKE by COKE..can’t fill your high school stadium in down town Atlanta, representing the ACC in an IOWA beat down, Not winning a bowl in forever, and How bout 30-24.
DAWGS 60 wins Tech 39 ..DAWGS OWN YOU!
Chad Cookler
July 21st, 2010
11:09 pm
Oh noes! Tuck is saying bad things about Georgia Tech. Whatever will we do?? Enjoy probation. Will be great cutting up the hedges again in November, just like 2008.
Naive in Athens
July 21st, 2010
11:11 pm
Leave the kid alone, he said he was not there. That should be enough and should do away with any investigation. No one, when threatened with suspension, has ever lied. So there!! He stayed in Athens studying for a tough test coming up… How many points for a three point basket???
Harold Bare
July 21st, 2010
11:12 pm
Hey Dawg fans. I hear Richt ordered red panties for all his players. Is this true. I forgot. Its UTs fought.
Harold
Get a life
July 21st, 2010
11:13 pm
Chad Cookler, once again the stupidity here is amazing labeling the whole team for the actions of a few. There are a lot of players with character they just don’t write about them, you only see the 5 percent that do something stupid. Do you really think Georgia is the only school that recruited these players? Amazing, how do most of you on here find your way to work in the mornings?
NCAA cops
July 21st, 2010
11:14 pm
Reading Rennie Curran’s comments make it sound like he was justifying guys dealing with agents. His comments sounded like weak justifications for what is about to ensue. Sounds like he knows something is up.
clickdawg
July 21st, 2010
11:14 pm
Baldemar Huerta, Someone from tech calling someone from UGA gay, that’s funny,
TUCK FECH
July 21st, 2010
11:15 pm
Once again the DAWG blogs are filled with Techies that can’t fill thier own stadium. Stop OBSESSING!
60-39 NERDS!
GO DAWGS!
Dawg 1
July 21st, 2010
11:22 pm
Cannot help but to find it interesting that right after USC is ‘buried’ that suddenly the SEC is being investigated in several schools. Maybe it is CLK’S ‘pay back’…
GT for life
July 21st, 2010
11:24 pm
I thought this was the convict blog-oh but it is-georgias most wanted
Robert
July 21st, 2010
11:24 pm
Schools who have 40+ arrests in the last 3 yrs and an AD getting a DUI w/a hooker in tow is much worse than a few players “in contact” with NFL agents……discipline should come down on criminal activity purely from the actions of players rather than those involving agents acting in shady ways to entice players, though those players should know better!
majordawg
July 21st, 2010
11:25 pm
Every time I read one of these blogs I wonder how you people manage to get your pants on every morning without help.
GT for life
July 21st, 2010
11:27 pm
they should-but its hard to stop tradition
BigCaliDawg
July 21st, 2010
11:28 pm
BigCaliDawg
“With all due respect that DAWG will not hunt!
You are right. This is a football blog. However, what seems to have been lost is the fact that first and foremost, these are STUDENT ATHELETES. They recieve an education while playing a game for pure competition, not monotary advancement.
That being said, IF the powers that be at the college levels are interested in discussing monotary advancement by said atehletes, we have an argument. Until that time, the athelete does not have a leg to stand on!!!”
(Shakes hand through screen.)
Personally, I believe athletes who participate in a sport that profits the university should be paid university employees.
How in the world do we seriously expect to police a young man that comes from dirt, who is offered more money at one time than he has ever seen in his life?
There are kids in high school that buy clothes and gifts for their friends on their team on a regular basis. No one cares cuz it’s high school. They do it cuz they care about the kid, cuz he’s their friend.
Jimmie wears Hilfiger and Lacoste, while his friend wears the same clothes every day. Do that in college and it’s a violation.
These rules are not realistic. IT IS EXPLOITATION!
LeBron was a cajillionairre while he was still in High School……..from Nike. Not the Cavs.
Every one of those kids on UGA, Tech, Bama, and Fla has a draft grade and a price tag hangin’ outta his butt.
No tellin’ how many of these kids are being paid, but not saying anything. It only gets exposed due to 2 things:
1) The kids career didn’t pan out and he’s lookin’ to score some quick cash for a story, or
2) The kid takes cash from agent A, but actually signs with agent B and stiffs agent A (ala Reggie Bush)
The current structure is basically a set-up for kids to fail…….
(steps down from soap box, but slips on a screwdriver left behind by some nerd)
coach smith
July 21st, 2010
11:31 pm
LMAO at how everyone (rival jealous schools that is) are immediately connecting this to AJ Green!!!!!!!!! NO NAMES HAVE BEEN MENTIONED AND AJ HAS PROOF HE WAS IN SC at the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!
stop dreaming dawg haters, this is only happening because Saban and Meyer cried about being investigated
Mike Jay
July 21st, 2010
11:34 pm
I weep for the future of America after reading this blog. You Tech boys are supposed to be smart but the posting here by some of you just belittles the whole university. My Mom always said “you can learn all you want from a book, but you damn well better learn some common sense to go with it.”
jim
July 21st, 2010
11:39 pm
most asked question for uga players-whos the babys daddy
Grim Reaper
July 21st, 2010
11:39 pm
When the NCAA starts sniffing around the garbage in Athens, they will end up finding a mountain of gold. UGA is a program and institution that is completely out of control. SMU has nothing on the Junkyard Dawgs. The Death Penalty is a comin.
coach smith
July 21st, 2010
11:44 pm
Grim Reaper
get a life TECHIE
BigCaliDawg
July 21st, 2010
11:45 pm
LOL @ The Grim Tweeker
jim
July 21st, 2010
11:51 pm
Typical mutts-blame someone else-i have never seen such a pathetic program-this is why uga still has no takers for the vacated AD job
Grim Reaper
July 21st, 2010
11:58 pm
Makin a list, checkin it twice…
The University of Kentucky basketball program for the 1952–53 season.
The basketball program at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) for the 1973-74 and 1974-75 seasons
The Southern Methodist University football program for the 1987 season.
The college soccer program at Morehouse College for the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
The Division III MacMurray College Men’s Tennis program for the 2006 and 2007 seasons
The Dirty Dawgs from Athens…
BUZZ SAWYER
July 22nd, 2010
12:07 am
I told you flea bag mutts at UGA your troubles were just beginning, get ready to be taken down!
wiley
July 22nd, 2010
12:27 am
Has Rennie ever heard of self incrimination? I know he is a former player but remarks like that will not ease the heat on UGA…wow.
BigGAdawg
July 22nd, 2010
12:27 am
Agents who violate the NCAA rules and jepordize the eligibility of a player and put an entire program at risk should be taken out to the practice field and strapped to a tackling dummy–then let the interior linemen have a long practice session. As my company commander in boot camp used to say: “Pain teaches dummies,” a philosophy he lived by.
It worked.
Flo-Ri-Duh!
July 22nd, 2010
12:37 am
All agents that are caught giving ANY gifts to college players should be banned from recruiting for LIFE. That should clean things up in a hurry.
TampaDawg
July 22nd, 2010
12:44 am
To Rennie Curran:
You got paid for playing college football. Think about how much it cost to send your @$$ to school for three years? What about all of your gear, uniforms, xtra dawg apparrel, meal plan, workout facilities? What happened to playing for what’s on your helmet?
wiley
July 22nd, 2010
12:48 am
Flo-Ri-Duh!…recruiting? Do you mean they should be banned from legal and contractual practice?…they are lawyers typically with occasional “agents” who dont have JDs and are just glorified businessmen who invest money into a player by handling his well business…they dont recruit anyone…they represent people’s financial and professional interests. They should be banned from the BAR for unethical business practices if anything or punished by the NFL…but I get what you were saying.
joe robby
July 22nd, 2010
1:16 am
Hey Rennie, LOTS of families struggle. But very few have members that get to go to college for free and work hard at a high level on something that they love to do. So don’t play the victim.
CC
July 22nd, 2010
1:55 am
Fred – take a history lesson. “Darling” Alabama has been more than slapped on the hand in the recent past for NCAA violations. Get your facts straight. The NCAA isn’t looking the other way for anybody – not USC, not Alabama, not Florida, not anybody.
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12-2
July 22nd, 2010
4:54 am
Rennie Curran
Oh, boy what an idiot saying all that.
benny
July 22nd, 2010
4:58 am
Well Gollllllllllllllly. Soopriise, soopriise, soopriise. Duh SEC roools agin. Dah pay em to play em SEC. I played at a major school and was thrilled to have a scholarship. The players are not victims. They are just greedy and the athletic departments are looking the other way. College fotball was once about sports. Now, it is like the NFL and not about sports. It is a business. The bottom line. Almost like wrasslin is a bidness and not sports. Must be Bush’s fault.
tdog
July 22nd, 2010
6:17 am
Nothing like more bad press. We seem to be the clown in the room and the joke is always on us. UGA has become a laughingstock.
bamaguy
July 22nd, 2010
6:25 am
The NCAA needs to investigate Rennie Curran and possible benefits received from agents while he was a student at UGA like they did Reggie Bush. He must have had a couple of beers before posting that. It’s the only logical explanation unless he has the “Reggie Bush Syndrome” of I don’t care if I throw my old school under the bus now that I have MY millions.
General Neyland
July 22nd, 2010
6:34 am
Why all this about the NCAA suspending a player for a few games. The NCAA has no power to suspend a player. All they can do is revoke amateur status.
Spike
July 22nd, 2010
6:43 am
If this is all the NCAA has on UGA they haven’t got much.
Jim Tavegia
July 22nd, 2010
6:47 am
Until the agents face stiff penalties none of this will matter and the only people hurt will be the student athlete. The NCAA is an enforcement joke. As in the USC matter bush and Carroll are long gone and people with no involvement are the only ones left to suffer. I have no respect for the NCAA anymore. Of course if Florida and Alabama are involved, the NCAA MUST add GA to the list. Why? Seems suspecious to me.
SC Boy
July 22nd, 2010
6:48 am
Is AJ that stupid to deny he went to the party? He better be telling the truth (ask Dez Bryant). A simple no comment would have done the job. Too bad TMZ is right so often.
GTpak
July 22nd, 2010
6:48 am
Rennie makes a good point about games featuring you, schools selling jerseys with your name, etc. Royalties should be paid into at least a trust fund that they can access once they reach a certain age, or some monthly stipend while in school.
Their talents are being exploited significantly. Just look at the ticket prices and the donations required, the budgets of the atheletic departments, not to mention without these kids, we would not have so much to look forward to each fall. Nor all of the fun talking about about recruiting.
They provide us with lots of entertainment, plus all the jobs that are created at the Universities, ESPN, network TV’s, etc.
It is time to make this right.
King Gator
July 22nd, 2010
6:56 am
A small monthly check to all NCAA athletes would resolve a lot of the temptation and shady dealings in college sports; and it would be fair to the athlete too. Seems like the NCAA is trying to remain important and on a witchhunt.
kiffin is a narc
July 22nd, 2010
7:04 am
somehow this has to do with lane kiffin
dKnocker
July 22nd, 2010
7:17 am
It is clear that the rules are just too complicated for student-athletes at some schools to understand. Hmmmmmm…………..
SatchelBuzz
July 22nd, 2010
7:18 am
Paging the nadlickers,…….make your Shreveport reservations now. That’s where your headed,..with or without him.
THWG,….every way, every day!
dap01
July 22nd, 2010
7:21 am
The headline to this article is very misleading.
buzzforareason
July 22nd, 2010
7:27 am
Hey we’ll be ok if we go anywhere, but we’ll still own your drug dealing/ drug smoking losers azzes. 30-24 beotch. Just get old Reuben Houston to sell you some of his drugs or Lil Joe may light you up to lessen the pain of your constant azz fu*king by UGA. Still “stings” don’t it? LMAO LOSER!
buzzforareason
July 22nd, 2010
7:28 am
Oh and btw, THWGT and eat sh*t and die techmites, its the only way to make the world a truly better place
buzzforareason
July 22nd, 2010
7:29 am
Hey did you hear the one where the Tech fan blew his head off after the latest UGA pounding? I did, it was hilarious. Bug parts everywhere.
buzzforareason
July 22nd, 2010
7:30 am
I don’t brake for bugs, I smash them on my windshield.