I don't know how much credence I'd put into Willie's statements. It's just his side of the story, recollecting events that happened up to two years ago. Sure there are some phone and email records, but those by themselves (at least the one's published) are not condemning. He was looked at as the scum of football recruiting, and the poster child for what's wrong with college athletics. All of a sudden everything that comes out of his mouth is the god's honest truth? There's a reason Oregon & Chip Kelly are silent for the most part. They're getting their ducks in a row so to speak, before talking. You have to remember, their issue is with the NCAA, not the public and the media. The public opinion is what it is right now, so coming out to talk with the media to make them happy, won't do anything to fix it. They'll most likely wait until there is something to actually say, before addressing this in the media. I'd expect to hear something from them by the middle of next week after the holiday. It is what it is. If he was paid for directing recruits to Oregon (Which he repeatedly said, he didn't do), so be it. Punish the program and move on. EVERY Elite program plays in the gray area, and top athletes in elite programs get extra benefits. You're naive to think otherwise.
Here's what the article actually says: "...leading him to believe Oregon was “scrambling” to establish that he’d provided legitimate traditional scouting services because they were aware of a Yahoo! Sports investigation. Previously, Lyles said he had provided scouting reports verbally in frequent calls with Oregon coaches." Leading him to believe they were "scrambling". That a huge difference. Perception is hardly ever reality. There's no way to prove Oregon's intent of the information request. The other part of that, was that he was providing scouting reports verbally, which explains the phone and text messages. That is a service, which at the time was legal. Lyles has changed his story from the beginning, so that proves he's lied about this whole thing at least once. Who knows why (most likely money...it always is), but for him to come out now and do an actual interview with Yahoo Sports, seems suspicious to me. There have been plenty of sports stories over the years that start off looking very incriminating, that end up being not much of anything. I'm still holding judgment until all the facts are out there. We'll see...
From the website Sports by Brooks: Lyles spoke to Kelly on Feb. 28 for nine minutes, according to Lyles’ phone records. On March 3, Yahoo! Sports printed its original report about the school’s payments to scouting services. The two haven’t talked since, Lyles said. Lyles has maintained contact with Gibson, including a 94-minute call on June 2, according to phone records. Lyles said he asked Gibson about receiving the $25,000 for the 2011-12 service that Kelly had promised. Gibson wouldn’t commit. He later called Clever, the compliance director, about the same issue. Lyles now doubts Oregon will pay. It appears to me that the reason Lyles is changing his story, is that he won't get paid for a 2011-2012 service (Which is now against NCAA rules) that he says Oregon promised him.
“I look back at it now and they paid for what they saw as my access and influence with recruits,” Lyles said. “The service I provided went beyond what a scouting service should … I made a mistake and I’m big enough of a man to admit I was wrong.” -- Willie Lyles Lyles was a contractor for Oregon who accessed and influenced Oregon recruits who signed with Oregon. It is what it is.
Truthfully, no. But I wasn't wrong. The NCAA found it to be a violation that his dad shopped him around. Cam just smiled his million dollar smile, said he didn't know about it, the NCAA believed him, and that's that. My personal feelings (that Cam did know about it, how could he not?) on the subject are irrelevant. :yelwink2:
actually, your feelings on that subject are quite relevant. we are all homers for our school, but to phrase it as such that is disingenuous. at least admit that you dont want to believe anything improper occured, until it can absolutely be proven with concrete evidence otherwise, because it involves your school. the reason nothing happened to cam newton is because they have yet to find concrete evidence that he knew. it is your belief that he knew. but there is no smoking gun. you are passing judgement when there are no facts out there to support your belief. (at least not yet.) i am not a cam newton supporter at all. i think he is guilty as sin. i just think it is hypocritical to apply different standards to the situations without admitting that you are viewing what is going on up your way through quacking glasses. hell, i would be looking through purple and gold lenses if it were lsu.
