It just seems odd to me that if Oregon's compliance office ok'd this transaction, and everything is out in public record, that it would be shady. Unless it's a case of trying to hide in plain sight, you would think if they were paying Lyles for getting recruits to come to Oregon, that they'd pay him off in one a dozen ways under the table. That's the part that sticks with me. One other school payed $25k to a single scouting service. The University of Washington paid Digital Sports Video $25k. No one questions them.
I think you're missing the boat. Oregon paid someone very closely linked to a prized recruit a high price for what appears to be dated, poor copy and paste material a week after the prized recruit signed with them. That's what the fuss is all about, not that Oregon paid for a scouting service. Did Digital Sports deliver a prized recruit to Washington while seemingly getting paid for poor information a year old? I think you're trying to gloss over the obvious.
Welcome to the big leagues of college football. If they make the NC game they'll get the same media anal exam too. Comes with the territory.
No, I understand that. It's just odd to me that if they did pay him for a prized recruit, that they'd do it this way. There are so many other ways to do it, that wouldn't be part of public record. That's what doesn't make sense.
Whether it's college athletic programs or multinational corporations, people never seem to learn a very basic lesson about managing a scandal: it's better to come completely clean from the beginning. The cover-up almost always ends up blowing up in your face much, much worse than the thing you're covering up.
doing it that way wasn't part of the public record, i think that's what you're not getting. the only reason Oregon had to turn over the material is because the newspaper served the school with a FOIA request, and it is illegal for them not to comply with a FOIA request. it'd be similar to a court ordering Oregon to turn over the records via a subpoena
I tend to agree. They may have just been naive on how much they could pay for information/influence from an agent. They pushed the envelope too far and attracted attention to the two high-profile athletes apparently connected to the agent that signed suspiciously with Oregon. Other schools were recruiting Seastrunk, including LSU. The NCAA watches highly-touted recruits very closely. But if none of the principals talk, the NCAA may have no way to follow the money. They have no subpoena power.
