 |
| Tim Floyd |
With all the drama, angst and anticipation with the start of today's hearing with the NCAA one interesting item came up yesterday...
Former USC basketball coach Tim Floyd will attend the hearing.
As noted in numerous articles over the past couple of days former coaches are welcome and encouraged to attend in order to tell their side of the story...it is also an opportunity for the coach to clear their name of any wrong doing.
I think this is pointless.
The proverbial horse has left the barn. No matter what Floyd has to say at the hearings the fact remains that Mayo should have never been allowed on campus once it was known that Mayo was being "handled" by Rodney Guillory. The same Rodney Guillory that damaged the eligibility of USC's Jeff Trepangier in 2000.
As I have said numerous times that falls on Mike Garrett.
Garrett was fully aware of who Guillory was and his misdeeds from the past yet he still allowed the recruitment of OJ Mayo to go forward. That USC has already self punished the basketball team because of Mayo has signaled to everyone that regardless of all the claims of Mayo being cleared by both USC and the NCAA (because of suspicions that he might have received improper benefits along the way), Mayo should have never been recruited in the first place.
Floyd's appearance does nothing to help to USC as I see it. It is a lose/lose situation for USC.
Sure, appearing in front of the committee may clear Floyd's name but all that will do is provide a clear field of fire in the direction of the USC athletic department.
I still don't believe that Tim Floyd paid Guillory the $1000.00 that is alleged. Why would he? Mayo was already on the team, all he had to do is to tell Guillory to buzz off (not the term I would use).
Floyd's appearance will turn this into a circus and a pissing match and nothing good will come of it for USC...
[...] The most heated exchanges during hearings were between coaches and their former employers, he said.
"There were times where staff just kind of threw the ball into play and didn't say another word for another hour because the [former] coach and institution were going back and forth," Yeager said. "The committee really looked at protecting everybody's interest in the room. There were times where we felt an institution was throwing a coach under the bus improperly. One hearing we had, that became evident and [we] dismissed everything against the coach and said, 'Go home.' "
Does, anyone think anything good will come of this?
Again, Floyd has the right to attempt to clear his name but that is a moral victory for him. Floyd's rep in the college game is shot, I have a hard time seeing him ever coaching again in the college ranks. Floyd already fell on his sword when it was clear that Mike Garrett would no longer support his coach. Floyd has had a number of months to let things settle and get his head clear...don't think that he won't be looking to get his pound of flesh out Garrett/USC after the shoddy way he was treated. This could turn into a free for all with all that we have already read and seen in the press in regards to the relationship between Garrett and Floyd. Either way USC will be left holding the bag for the Mayo mess regardless of who is at fault.
Another reason this is pointless is that with USC self-imposing sanctions on the basketball team they have already signaled wrongdoing. What more is there to prove? There isn't anything Floyd can say that will change that. The NCAA could accept or add to the self-imposed sanctions already handed down. The only thing the NCAA potentially gets out of this is more ammunition to use against USC.
This is why Sample should have fired Garrett on the spot. He knew of Guillory's past and still let him roam free on campus. Floyd has some culpability too...He surely knew of Guillory's past and gambled, but it was Garrett who should have said NO in the firmest fashion.
SC would have been fine had the Mayo issue not come up.
But with Mayo it gave the NCAA all it needs to try and hit USC hard.