I caught this over at the OC Register USC blog. Apparently Reggie Bush's girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, has gotten Bush to change Attorneys, and his new representation is more prepared to settle the case being brought forth by Lloyd Lake.
Kardashian became alarmed that Bush’s legal bills have well exceeded the figure Lake is suing for. Kardashian encouraged Bush to replace Cornwell with Chapman Holley, a longtime friend of the Kardashian family.
“Three years ago (Bush) could have settled the case for $200,000,” Watkins said. “Now he’s looking at a $1-million in legal fees alone.”
A pre-trial settlement would present a major obstacle for NCAA investigators who are counting on depositions and trial testimony to determine whether Bush and his family received cash and gifts from Lake and his former partner Michael Michaels while still at USC.
The thing that bothers me is how USC may end up paying the full price should any information come out about Bush getting paid. Certainly Lake's goals and SC's goals are completely divergent as an agent's goal is to get the player out of school for their payday where as the school wants to keep their star players for as long as possible for their own (admittedly) financial reasons. I realize that USC is responsible for a certain amount of oversight, but you tell me a relatively cheap and effective way to monitor and manage nearly 100 athletes (in football alone) and I'll lead you to numerous government agencies and corporations that would be prepared to make you a very rich man.
Anyways, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I am ready to be over and done with all of this. USC likely draws a great deal of NCAA attention already simply by being a high profile recruiting powerhouse, but to have not one but two very public NCAA infraction cases hanging over the school simply pushes it over the top. The longer this continues the worse it will be for our Trojans and the more embarassing it gets for the NCAA as an institution. Hopefully everything will be resolved before Myles Brand decides to make an example out of USC.