Gary Parrish has some interesting if not brief thoughts on the Tim Floyd allegations.
According to Johnson, only three people witnessed this alleged deal -- specifically Floyd, Guillory and Johnson himself. Clearly, Floyd will never admit to it; I can't imagine Guillory will either, and there is likely no paper trail given that we're dealing with cash.
All of which means this charge is and will probably forever be based on nothing more than Johnson's word, and there's no way the NCAA will use a one-sourced story lacking physical evidence to hammer Floyd, particularly when the lone source is a man with a criminal past who supposedly came clean last year to Outside the Lines but failed to mention a cash payment by Floyd in those interviews.
That's plenty enough for any good defense attorney to discount the latest allegation. So while I don't doubt Johnson's story, I do doubt the NCAA will use it, meaning Floyd's reputation is probably scarred, but this specific incident won't cost him his job. At best, it'll make him more careful going forward.
Well, the NCAA has done some wierd things in the past so I it would not surprise if they used this in some way.
I disagree with Parrish though that Johnson has no reason to lie because of the possible punishment he faces. His claim can't be proven any more than it can be disproven and his past criminal background should leave some serious doubt in everyone's mind. I found an interesting comment explaining why over at Adam Rose's blog at the LAT.
I was in law enforcement for 30 years. I retired as a Detective-Supervisor. I know that being a convicted felon (as the accusers of Mayo and Bush are) does not, repeat, does not make you more believable than those who have not lived in a 4' by 8' cage. Those people lost their constitutional right to vote and ability to to work in jobs requiring security checks. for a reason. They demonstrated that they are neither trustworthy nor honest. Those are the people who would like to sell you farm land in New Orleans.
Again, that comment boils it down to the basic tenets that most people live by. Maybe it happened and maybe it didn't, but I am sure not going to believe the word of a convicted felon who failed to disclose this little detail when he sat down with ESPN last May. I mean this is kind of an important detail don't you think? Why sit on this info for a year? Johnson can't prove it anymore than the feds or USC could disprove it. Heck Guillory could "flip" and I doubt anyone would believe it because it would then show that Guillory would say or do anything to save his skin.
We are never going to know if this really happened but boy it sure does make good copy...