From Foxsports.com Lawyer: Bush's family received $100,000 / Associated Press Posted: 26 minutes ago NEW YORK (AP) - The parents of Southern California football star Reggie Bush received $100,000 in cash from investors in a sports marketing company that hoped to sign the running back, an attorney for the investors said in a letter obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that when Bush signed with an agent who was not connected with the marketing company Bush's family was asked to return the money, and Bush himself sat in on a tense settlement meeting between his parents and company officials. Attorney Brian Watkins told the Union-Tribune on Friday that Bush's parents, LaMar and Denise Griffin, asked for the money partly to resolve financial problems. Watkins said the money included an initial payment of about $30,000 to help start up the New Era Sports and Entertainment agency. Watkins said the money was disbursed throughout 2005 and was given on more than one occasion at the home of Lloyd Lake, an investor in the company and a documented gang member. Watkins described him as a longtime friend of the Heisman Trophy winner. Watkins described the $100,000 in disbursements in a letter dated Feb. 13 in which he asked David Cornwell, the Bush family's attorney, if USC should be included in settlement discussions. "We would not object to their (USC's) participation as we understand their wanting to be involved due to the fact this matter was ongoing during their championship season of 2004 as well as the entire season of 2005, and any lawsuit filed might have an adverse effect on them," Watkins' letter said. USC spokesman Tim Tessalone said he was unaware of the letter and declined comment. The content of the letter was reported hours after the Houston Texans, who have first overall selection in Saturday's draft, passed on Bush and signed North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams. Bush was selected second overall Saturday by the New Orleans Saints. Watkins said earlier this week that Bush's parents didn't pay $54,000 in rent during the year they lived in a house owned by a sports marketing agency investor who wanted to represent the football star. The money dispute began after Bush signed with another agent and marketing representative, ending any chance of a deal with New Era. Watkins told the Times that Bush personally tried to resolve the dispute, sending New Era an e-mail that said no one was trying to cheat them, then attending a settlement meeting several weeks ago that included his parents, Watkins and New Era representatives. Watkins said New Era representatives were searched for recording devices when they entered the meeting room. Bush's mother and stepfather had agreed to pay landlord Michael Michaels $4,500 in monthly rent when they moved into the Spring Valley house Michaels bought for $757,000 in March 2005. Michaels said the Griffins told him they eventually would pay him rent from Bush's earnings when he went pro. Also Friday, agent David Caravantes, who is under investigation by the NFL Players Association for his role in the housing arrangement, said he has had nothing to do with the former USC star. Caravantes told The Associated Press he is unaware of the investigation, adding: "I have had no involvement with Reggie Bush. The truth will come out." Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFLPA, confirmed Friday that the probe of Caravantes has begun. Watkins, who represents Lake and Michaels, said Bush's family defrauded his clients of $300,000 over 1 1/2 years using "the carrot" of Bush's future football career as an enticement. Bush, who signed with agent Joel Segal, said he believes the matter will be cleared up in a few weeks. "I've got to get back to football," he said. "My life is parallel to a horse race. They have blinders on to keep them from being distracted in the race and keep them focused on winning the race. That's kind of like my life. Focus on the goal, not the things coming at me from the side." Watkins sent the player's parents an eviction notice on April 3 and they moved out of the house last week. Bush has said his parents left because they found another place to live. Watkins said he plans to file a fraud lawsuit against Bush's parents and possibly Bush. Cornwell, the Bush family attorney, did not return phone calls to The Associated Press, but in an interview with the Times he accused New Era of trying to extort millions from Bush. "We identified their scheme months ago and collected written evidence over the course of the months," Cornwell said. "And we provided that evidence to the NFL Players Association and NFL security." NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement Friday, "Based on the information presented by Reggie Bush's attorney, our office has advised the attorney to consider referring these matters to law enforcement authorities." The NCAA is investigating whether the living arrangement violated rules prohibiting student-athletes and their families from receiving extra benefits from agents or their representatives
Saturday, April 29, 2006 Institutional Control, or lack thereof | by Dylan In this morning's Los Angeles Times, T.J. Simers drives the Reggie Bush story in a new direction, parking it right on Pete Carroll's chest. Can this be the first chip in the facade of Carroll as good-guy-but-kinda-out-of-the-loop coach? Here, he's inserting himself into Bush's search for an agent and arranging meetings with disgraced hucksters. Key grafs: More importantly, what was Carroll thinking when he helped Ornstein select Segal? If he was trying to help Bush, then why didn't he do his homework? What was the point of trying to help Bush — if he wasn't going to do his homework? Initially, Ornstein interviewed seven agents, whittled that group to three and then those familiar with the process said Carroll interrupted, wanting a role in determining who would be Bush's agent. The interviewing began anew with Ornstein, Carroll and the Bush family meeting agents, and Segal emerging on top. As a Notre Dame grad (particularly one in southern California), you expect a fair amount of eye-rolling when you try to explain to Trojan fans that cheating is an open secret at USC and has been at least since my father was an undergrad. Before the cries of "everbody does it, including Notre Dame" rain down, I'll point out SC and ND are different in one critical regard when it comes to their respective programs' cleanliness (or lack thereof). SC's campus, like Miami's and Texas' and Oklahoma's, is located in the geographic heart of their alumni base. SC's biggest boosters, contributors, and myriad sugar daddies are literally five minutes away in the high rises of downtown L.A., well within easy palm-greasing reach. What you get is a cadre of pony-tailed power-lunchers, divorce attorneys, and breast augmenters filling the role of Luther Campbell circa 1989. In some cases, the comparison is beyond apt. It's a lot like L.A. Confidential. They're crooked, everyone knows it, but everyone's on the take, so no one cares. This should be an interesting summer for the Poodle (more on him later), who will surely spend much of it in damage control mode as he tries to lop head after head off the Hydra of bad press. I'm not really into making bold statements (I mean, my 2005 10-1 prediction was one Bush push in the back from being dead-on), but I get the feeling that when the Irish visit L.A. over Thanksgiving weekend, they'll be playing for their second consecutive win over the Trojans.
8) Today's LA Times has more NEW scandals involving USC football players. Wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett has been caught red-handed taking gifts. He roomed with QB Matt Leinert in a $3,600.00 per month apartment downtown all of this past year. Now just where does a kid from New Jersey get that kind of dough? According to Leinert's father, each boy paid $650 per month, while he paid the difference. That's an NCAA violation, leaving Jarrett at least $10,000.00 in debt that he must repay before he can resume his college career...assuming that he can explain how anyone gets to live in Hollywood for $650 per month... I live in a suburban ghetto 25 miles from downtown and typical rents here are over $1,200 per month... For those of you keeping score at home, this puts the list of USC players accused of foul deeds and NCAA violations in the past year near double digits. Among the players are Reggie Bush (TB), Matt Leinert (QB), Darnell Bing (S), Fred Matua (OT), Dwayne Jarrett (WR), LenDale White (FB), Winston Justice (OT), Marc Sanchez (QB), Hershel Dennis (TB)... The hits just keep on coming... :twisted:
So what you are saying is that it's business as usual in So. Central!! Only difference between the McKay/Fatman years is that the press would never have let those stories come to light in those days! Terry
Troy is furiously denying everything, but the Pac10 has launched its own investigation on top of the NCAA's... The problem, as identified by Java (a USC guy) on WildWestSports.com is that Carroll is recruiting kids with a Hollywood ethos that isn't valued by society on the whole or by the NFL (recruits report that he travels with pictures of his players posing with Halle Berry to entice them.) While it may be cool to hang with Halle, she doesn't pay on draft day. Java recently wrote that character ".. keeps coming up in relation to USC guys. That is very sad. When PC took over, he had a ton of guys with good character who truly were thrilled to play for a winner. Palmer, MacKenzie, even Sultan and Fargas. Rogers, Graf, Torres, Hill, Polamalu. Now USC recruits top talent but I have said for years these guys come in with baggage, to put it nicely. So, this is the first year you really have seen it, but the NFL is concerned aobut guys with top talent who have an entitlement attitude. I think it cost Bush being the first pick (think had htis not come out he'd have been traded for big time prospects and teams were scared off). Think is cost Bing big time, Byrd, White, Justice. Too bad, but Mike Williams had these concerns about THESE PLAYERS and voiced them before the 2004 season. Result? Everyone shouted Mike down, said he was an ingrate." Understand that criticism was written by a very well connected USC guy, but Notre Dame goes after many of the same recruits, so while the selection process may be apart of the issue, environment, academic support and coaching are also important factors. It appears the USC problem is affecting even very good kids. Mark Sanchez is by all accounts a great student and great kid, but he finds himself in the middle of a scandal. The old adage holds, if you hang out with the wrong crowd, you don't need to be looking for trouble, it finds you. It's one thing to live in a town with troubling influences, it's a quite another still to invite the "gangsta" mentality to become a part of your program. That makes no sense to this pundit. Hub Arkish of Pro Football Weekly said this could just be the tip of a very big iceberg at USC. "When Pete took over, some doors were opened that are shut at most programs," he said, and that when recruits visit USC, it's obvious that that the lifestyle of a USC football player is much different from the lifestyle of a football player at most other schools, and recruits are taken in by it. He added that USC has some major problems with institutional control, and that the Bush story will by no means be the last one we will hear and compared the situation to Michigan basketball under Steve Fisher." Carroll had his chance to demonstrate character and discipline when linebacker Rey Maualuga allegedly attacked a man, unprovoked. The response attributed to Maualuga after the witness said she would call the police, "I own the police." Carroll disciplined Maualuga by making him sit out the first half of the Stanford game and then giving him his most playing of the year against Cal.
Carroll Confident USC Won't Suffer Penalties AP via rivals.com LOS ANGELES - Southern California coach Pete Carroll said emphatically Monday he doesn't believe the Trojans will have to forfeit games or lose a national championship. ''With the little bits I have, no. I'm not concerned about that one bit,'' Carroll told The Associated Press. ''I'm more concerned with helping the process and making sure everything comes to the front. ''I'm confident that's not where this is going. The information that I have thus far, I don't think that's going to happen at all.'' Carroll's teams went 48-4 during the last four seasons and won national championships in 2003-04. The Trojans were shooting for a third national title last winter, but lost to Texas 41-38 in the Rose Bowl to snap a 34-game winning streak. The program suddenly came under scrutiny beginning with allegations April 23 concerning the living arrangements of Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush's family near San Diego, and other charges that could be deemed as extra benefits. The Pac-10 and NCAA are investigating. Should Bush be ruled ineligible, forfeitures are a possibility. And should it be determined he was ineligible in 2004, the national championship USC won that year could be impacted. `To me, it looks like somebody's out to get Reggie's money, a classic case of people trying to create some kind of opportunity based on another guy's good fortune,'' Carroll said. ''I don't know all the facts. I don't know that there is something wrong here.'' Also, redshirt freshman Mark Sanchez, a possible successor to 2004 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart, was arrested for investigation of sexually assaulting a female student. He was released on $200,000 bail. 'I was shocked,'' Carroll said. ''This is the kid that nobody that knows him or who's been around him would ever think he would be in a position like this. It hit us all very hard. We've just got to wait it out, wait for the information to come out, cooperate in every way we can. ''It's unfortunate that the media hits it so hard at the start. If somebody isn't at fault, it's so hard to repair that. Hopefully, we'll see things take a good turn. I'm counting on that.'' Finally, questions arose over the weekend concerning the living arrangement of All-American wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, who will be a junior next fall. USC officials are investigating whether an upscale apartment Jarrett shared with Leinart violated NCAA rules. ''There's more stuff forthcoming. The university continues to work to bring this to a resolution,'' Carroll said. ''It's going to be in the next couple days, we'll know more.'' Carroll said he's hopeful Jarrett won't miss any playing time next season. ''I don't know how it's all going to play out. I'm hopeful that's not going to be the case,'' he said. Carroll said he is ultimately responsible for everything that goes on in his program. ''I'm not going to make any excuses. I'm not going to point the finger at anyone else. I've got to do a better job,'' he said. ''We've got to continue to get the word out. We're trying to do everything right. ''We're trying to inform and educate better than anybody in the country. I'd like to think we do it better than anybody. We're going to continue to bust our tails to make sure everybody understands. We're trying to do this better than anybody else has ever done it.'' The coach also said he has spoken with USC president Steven B. Sample and has his support. ''He knows this program really well,'' Carroll said. ''He understands the philosophy and the care we have for our kids. I know he supports us in all ways to continue to do that.'' Carroll said he hasn't felt any negative impact on recruiting. ''Right now, I don't feel it,'' he said. ''We're getting great response wherever we go.''