S. Carolina, UGA players claim innocence
July 22, 2010
HOOVER, Ala. (AP)—A party on Miami’s South Beach and sports agents were onceagain hot topics at the Southeastern Conference media days, with South Carolinaand Georgia taking center stage on Thursday.
Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said tight end Weslye Saunders told him hedid nothing wrong during his trip to South Beach; Georgia receiver A.J. Greeninsisted he’s never even been to Miami.
The party at Club Liv in the Fontainebleau hotel in May has been the subjectof investigations by the NCAA and several schools, including defending nationalchampion Alabama and North Carolina.
Saunders “went with several players on a trip to Miami,” Spurrier saidThursday. “I guess the question is, who paid for it? Who paid for what they didwhile they were there? When the investigation is finished, I guess we’ll findout about all the guys.
“I’ve talked to him briefly. He told me he’s done nothing wrong. We’ll letit play out.”
Green, coach Mark Richt and the other Georgia players were under NCAAinstructions not to comment on the investigation, which was disclosed Wednesdayevening.
Green, the Bulldogs’ star receiver, told reporters at the media gatheringthat he hadn’t been to Miami—ever.
Beyond that, he said: “It’s not my place to comment on it, and I don’t feelI need to.”
Richt told reporters of investigators that “we’ll see what they gather.”SEC officials twice warned that Georgia representatives wouldn’t talk about theprobe.
Alabama is looking into Marcell Dareus’ trip to the party around the time ofhis mother’s death on May 18. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, the former MiamiDolphins coach who Wednesday compared the actions of unscrupulous agents to thebehavior of a pimp, wants the NFL and the NFL Players Association to punishrogue agents with suspensions.
Spurrier, who coached the NFL’s Washington Redskins, was more subdued whenasked if he agreed with that.
“I think they ought to be a little bit more active and help out in thatregard,” he said. “As coaches we do all we can to tell our guys the rules—you can’t accept anything from boosters, agents or whoever. But it’s hard towatch them all the time.
“It’s a little bit of a difficult situation, but sometimes you’ve just gotto trust your players to know the rules and wait until after their final gamebefore they take the money. If you can get through your senior year …. you canaccept all the dough they want to give you. But you have to wait until youreligibility is over. That’s what we all try to teach our guys.”
Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino, a former Atlanta Falcons coach, said it was“wishful thinking” that the players association and NFL commissioner RogerGoodell can solve the problem for the college ranks.
“We have to worry about what we can control, our education, our continuingto work on the decision making, the understanding of what’s right and what’swrong, not try to think that somebody else is going to handle it for us,”Petrino said.
NFLPA assistant executive director George Atallah said Wednesday the grouptakes “violations of NFLPA rules by agents seriously and investigate themvigilantly. This situation is no different.”
Meanwhile, teammates of Saunders voiced their support but shed little lighton the trip.
“I really don’t know what’s going on except what people are reporting,”Gamecocks linebacker Shaq Wilson said. “He’s been working his butt off. He’sbeen in there every day working out. He’s a model student-athlete and I thinkhe’s a great person. I support him.”
“We’re just hoping for the best for Weslye,” added fullback PatrickDiMarco. “He’s in a tough situation right now.”
Arkansas quarterback Ryan Mallett, a fourth-year junior who was eligible forthe draft after last season, said his policy with agents is to avoid them.
“Obviously as a college athlete you’ve got to be aware of who you’re aroundat all times,” Mallett said. “I’m not talking to any agents at this time. Ifthey contact me, I tell them if I’m going to go to the NFL, I’ll talk to themafter the season.
“That’s how I’m doing it, because I don’t want to have to deal with any ofthe stuff that’s going on.”
Arkansas is among the SEC schools employing consultant Joe Mendes to helpplayers and their families in dealing with agents.
Outside the SEC, the NCAA is investigating North Carolina players MarvinAustin and Greg Little regarding alleged improper benefits from agents, a personwith knowledge of the probe has told AP.
North Carolina Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said her office has begunan investigation about potential misconduct involving agents and two Tar Heels.
“It’s probably got to be a federal issue because it’s one of those thingsthat cross state lines,” said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, a former Mississippihead coach and Tennessee assistant. “It’s not a North Carolina problem,obviously, and it’s rampant through the country.
“We’ve seen it on the West Coast raise its ugly head just recently (atSouthern California), and I’ve been in the Southeastern Conference for a longtime. You’re constantly looking for those signs. You see these people hangingaround outside your gate after a game. After doing it for 30 years, you startfiguring out who they are. It’s something you’d like to see authorities—legalauthorities—help us where there’s a problem. It’s bigger than the NCAA canmanage.”
At Georgia Tech, quarterback Joshua Nesbitt said he doesn’t agree withcollege players taking money from agents, but he can understand why some mightbe tempted to do it.
“Overall, I think it’s a bad thing to accept money when it’s not your jobto play,” Nesbitt said. “But you don’t know everybody else’s situation. Theirback might be against the wall and that’s their last leg. Who’s to say they’rewrong.”
AP Sports Writers Joedy McCreary in Durham, N.C., Aaron Beard in Raleigh,N.C., and Paul Newberry in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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