ENVY

Been away for awhile.   But now I'm back to tackle the most recent set of accusations against Auburn.  Ok so lets break this down.  Since Auburn beat LSU and it appeared they were destined for greatness,  there has been an onslaught of accusations trying to tarnish their success and outright attacks driven by resentment.   First there was the Cam saga, which didn't play out like many hoped.  Then there was the poisoning of Toomer's Corner trees, created by the butt-hurt of losing a game after being ahead by 24 points.  Next after Auburn signed another outstanding recruiting class,  there was accusations of wrongdoings in Louisiana.   After that fell through,  there was the claim (and later faking) of tapes proving Cam did have knowledge of the money.  Now we are at present day and four disgruntled ex-players have decided they would go public with their stories of receiving extra benefits while at Auburn.  They do so on an HBO special reportedly earning nothing more than the good feeling of coming clean.   Yet they either can't remember the names of the people who gave them these benefits or just refuse to name them.   The weird thing is while HBO called mutiple Auburn players who said they received nothing and the former highschool coaches and teammates of the "confessing" players disputing their claims, none of this was mentioned in the show.  Yet they did have Tyrone Prothro discuss how he didn't receive anything while at Alabama.  Imagine that...  four Auburn players hand picked to talk about Auburn being dirty and then one Alabama player talks about how they are clean.   What they failed to mention is Prothro attended Alabama while they were on probation after being found guilty of paying players!  And then two years after he leaves they go on probation again for athletes receiving improper benefits.  I guess that wasn't relevant to the story.   As of now one of the Auburn accusers is refusing to cooperate with NCAA by saying he knows names, but wont release them and another says he will not meet with NCAA as long as Auburn attorneys are present.  I guess they got over that "coming clean" feeling.  

It is aggravating to have to listen to all of this mess, but I guess I can't blame some fan bases for being envious or even a little confused by Auburn's success.  After all they were promised by their current coach to "dominate them 24/7 365". 

The Oregon Incident

The issue of "Street Agents" has been a hot topic lately.  Following Cam Newton,  was the questioning of Trovon Reed and Greg Robinson for contact with Sean Nelson.  What most fans of rival teams that were giddy about this either didnt know or forgot to mention was that Will Lyles (see below for his clients) is in the same business as Nelson.  Now Rivals.com is reporting that Oregon has paid over $28,000 to two men acting as street agents. Baron Flenory and Will Lyles have been considered "family advisers" to blue chip highschool athletes from Texas, Lousiana, and Florida.  According to state expenditure records, Oregon paid $25K to Lyles and $3745 to Flenory.  Lyles works for Complete Scouting Services and Flenory for New Level Athletics.  These men run 7 on 7 competitions and serve as mentors to top athletes.  Lyles recently served as the mentor to Lache Seastrunk who many considered an Auburn lock early in his recruitment.  Then suddenly all interest in Seastrunk was lost and he eventually signed with Oregon. Shortly afterward Lyles received the $25000 from Oregon.  Could this be why?  Many schools use recruiting services, but the NCAA comes calling when it appears there has been some wrong doing. For your reference,  here is a list from Recruitocosm of players that Lyles has represented:

Patrick Peterson – LSU
RJ Jackson – LSU
Brandon Lafell – LSU
Terrence Tolliver – LSU
Lache Seastrunk – Oregon
Shaun Lewis – Oklahoma State
Toney Hurd – Oklahoma State
Ahmad Dixon – Baylor
Mike Goodson – A&M
Martellus Bennett – A&M
Trent Richardson – Bama
Reggie Bush – USC
Joe McNight – USC
Trevon Randle – LSU

While Chip Kelly is busy claiming that everything was done within the guidelines of the NCAA, the NCAA is busy probing into his recruiting services.  This is not all we will hear of this story.  I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg.