The USC sports program is once again the mecca of college sports controversy.
A year and a half after O.J. Mayo was alleged to have violated NCAA rules by accepting complimentary NBA tickets from Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony, USC is proposing sanctions in its basketball program for the rules violated by Mayo.
The university said Sunday an ongoing investigation found that Mayo violated NCAA rules during his one season with the Trojans under former coach Tim Floyd in 2007-08.
While similar controversies can easily occur at any university, including Cal Poly, they are more likely to occur at institutes where Division I sports are played as opposed to Division II. The reason being, more professional teams recruit from Division I teams.
Mark Reinhiller, sports information director at Cal Poly, declined to comment on this situation.
“It would be most inappropriate and unprofessional of me to comment on any situation at another school,” said Reinhiller.
The sanctions call for a one-year ban on postseason play. This would keep the Trojans from participating in the Pac-10 tournament, which they participated in last year. USC also proposes the loss of one scholarship for the current season as well as the 2010-11 season, the loss of one coach permitted to engage in off-campus recruiting and 20 less recruiting days permitted in the next season.
While some argue that the sanctions are not extreme enough, some claim that while they are extreme, they are not punishing the right people. How does punishing current USC players who have never come in contact with Guillory or Floyd make up for past transgressions committed by these two individuals?
Eliminating wins achieved during the single season Mayo played as a Trojan is punishment enough, but keeping the Trojans from playing in the current post-season to which they are already headed is overkill.
Along with sanctions affecting the Trojan’s future, some of the sanctions will affect past Trojan victories won under the direction of Floyd and the athleticism of Mayo.
Because Mayo was involved with Rodney Guillory, who is now considered a USC booster for showering Mayo with thousands of dollars in gifts, their 21 victories during the 2007-08 season will be vacated due to the fact that Mayo was an ineligible player at the time.
These exempt Trojan wins will not translate into wins for the opposing teams, but it will simply be as if these games never existed.
That is all well and fine, since Mayo aided in those victories and was ineligible to play college basketball at that time.
But what is the logic for keeping the current USC basketball team from attaining their dreams of playing in the postseason?
Although it is admirable that USC is returning the money granted to them during the 2008 NCAA tournament, money is not the issue.
The issue is corrupt coaches, who are still working as coaches – and even worse, nobody seems to have a problem with it.
Floyd, who abruptly left USC after allegations that he gave $1,000 to Guillory in exchange for persuading Mayo to play for the Trojans, stated “loss of enthusiasm” as his reason for resignation.
Losing interest in a team immediately prior to that team becoming the center of controversy is more than irony. Some may even consider it planned.
Floyd’s coaching record is tainted, but nobody seems to mind. He is now an assistant coach for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets. How can coaches with flawed records easily escape the negative spotlight and continue to work professionally as coaches, but sports greats in similar positions become unfunny punch lines to repetitive jokes as a result of their mistakes?
Entire sports careers have abruptly ended over miniscule mistakes, but somehow the careers of those “behind the scenes” are allowed to carry on, effortlessly.
Floyd and Guillory should be punished for their behavior, since their behavior is the basis of this controversy.
While this postseason ban carries a lot of weight and is a step in the right direction, it is affecting the wrong individuals.
The entire current USC basketball lineup should not take the fall for two individuals who made decisions without thinking.
Reach Stephanie Fehrmann at: sports@thepolypost.com
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