Q: Once the NCAA combined the Bush and Mayo cases, did parallels emerge?Robinson: Interestingly enough, the NCAA didn’t actually combine them. There were reports that they combined them. The same people who were investigating Bush, as soon as other things (involving Mayo) came up, immediately that became part of their investigation. They weren’t just investigating Bush and football - they were investigating USC. It’s really an investigation of an institution.As far as parallels, yeah, I think it’s pretty clear from what we’re being told from sources, the way the NCAA is going about asking questions, that they see parallels in the two situations. They see with Reggie Bush a number of different people who were allowed to get close to the USC football program. Through their ability to get close to the program, they were allegedly able to provide benefits, cash and things of this nature. In the same vein with Rodney Guillory and USC basketball, this was another individual allowed to be very close to the program. Through having that access, he was able to allegedly roll out benefits that would violate NCAA rules.One of the strong themes when we talked to people who have been questioned was: Where was the compliance department in all this? Who was overseeing the conduct of these athletic teams? How were individuals who could do harm to these programs able to get so close? Who keeps these people at bay? The answer to that is that probably the coaches could be culpable, the compliance people could be culpable, the bosses of the compliance people. Ultimately, even (Athletic Director) Mike Garrett could be culpable. When the NCAA talks about institutional control, it’s very much a top-down thing. The questions for the NCAA are where did those breakdowns occur, why did they occur and how widespread were they.Q: What penalties do you think USC will suffer in the end?Robinson: Even with the investigation having gone on three years; even with what appears to be a deep, large and wide-ranging investigation; and in spite of a lot of people coming forward with damning evidence, it’s almost impossible for anyone who’s not part of the NCAA infrastructure to be able to accurately speculate about what’s going to happen, simply because of the way the NCAA works. These investigators will eventually wrap up their investigation. They will forward it to the Committee on Infractions. The job of the Committee on Infractions is to sit down and poke holes in that investigation, point out the weak spots. What they ultimately charge USC with, there has to be a great deal of strength behind it. I’m hesitant to say what will happen because we don’t know what the weak spots are, and the NCAA absolutely refuses in any way, shape or form to reveal details about their investigations or how their investigative practices work.Q: How about a timetable then? When will we learn USC’s fate?Robinson: Based on sources we have who have been interviewed, it appears the NCAA has wrapped up the majority of its Reggie Bush investigation, if not all of it. I believe they are now nearing the end of the O.J. Mayo portion of the investigation. So barring a significant amount of new revelations, I have to believe that most likely in the fall we’ll see some kind of letter of infractions put forward by the NCAA.One thing people need to understand is, the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, they’re sort of like some legislative bodies that meet only a certain number of times a year. From what I understand, there’s a meeting in summer and another in the fall, somewhere in the neighborhood of November. They try to get to as much as they can. But the USC investigation could be behind another one. My best guess would be, because it’s taken so long and been so in-depth, that it probably will be later rather than sooner. I would guess November or December — but I also never believed this would be something that’s three years in the making
I agree with Prowler, F(*& em both! (as it is, I just finished my spring semester and this whole thing left me wishing I knew a football player when it came down to me paying for my books)
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