Pat Forde says USC should get the 'death penalty'.
USC, Tim Floyd have no excuse for turning a blind eye
By Pat Forde
ESPN.com
In a just world, USC basketball would have something in common with SMU football in the near future.
The death penalty.
It's not going to happen, because NCAA bylaws don't work that way. And besides, they're not likely to ever again disband a program for a year after the smoking crater it left at SMU.
But USC deserves it. The school has so far escaped facing NCAA prosecution for compelling allegations that star tailback Reggie Bush and his family were lavishly compensated by an aspiring agent while playing for the Trojans. Now comes a devastating, thoroughly documented "Outside The Lines" report that goes into stunning detail about the money and gifts star guard O.J. Mayo allegedly received before and during his one season at USC.
All directly beneath USC's chronically blind eyes.
You can plead ignorance once -- and even that was almost impossible to believe, in the case of Bush. Plead it twice? Um, no. USC should be crushed by the NCAA, the Pacific-10 and its own administration.
Especially with a player everyone in Hoopsworld strongly suspected was no amateur before he set foot in Los Angeles. You had to search hard to find a soul who didn't think O.J. Mayo had been prostituted for years as his prep legend grew, starting in seventh grade. (Put it this way: When early Mayo confidant Sonny Vaccaro gets muscled out of the scene, somebody's bringing some serious juice to the table.)
So you take the Bush allegations, add a side of Mayo and ask the question: Has there ever been a more textbook definition of "lack of institutional control"?
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