Gary Klein and Lance Pugmire of the LOS ANGELES TIMES appear to have nailed Joe McKnight to the floorboards over the improper use of an SUV.
Joe McKnight, star tailback of USC’s football team, has been driving a sport utility vehicle owned by a Santa Monica businessman, an arrangement the school is investigating and may be in violation of college rules.
The NCAA, which governs major college sports, prohibits student athletes from accepting benefits from marketing representatives or agents or “extra benefits” based on their athletic ability.
The SUV is registered to Scott Schenter.
Schenter, 47, has a background that includes marketing, and a company he owned registered a website called 4joemcknight.com. It is unclear whether Schenter has any ties with USC or the school had knowledge of his activities.
Schenter also has owned the domain uscmarketing.com and “filed papers in May 2008” to start a company called “USC Marketing.”
And that’s not even the worst part. Not even close.
Klein and Pugmire report that a “Times reporter” repeatedly (”several times“) watched McKnight drive the vehicle, but when confronted about it McKnight said he had never driven the SUV.
Approached Wednesday after practice, McKnight acknowledged riding in the Land Rover but said he has never driven it. McKnight said his girlfriend, Johana Michelle Beltran, works as a secretary for Schenter, although the player said he did not know him.
Now the worst part:
Todd Dickey, USC’s senior vice president for administration, said Friday McKnight did provide the school with written documentation that he was driving the vehicle. Athletics’ spokesman Tim Tessalone said the running back had been “mistaken” in his account. Tessalone declined a request to see the documentation or say when the information was filed.
Last part is extremely important because if McKnight did document that he was driving the vehicle with the school, USC might be considered complicit in a possible NCAA rules violation.
Finally, Klein and Pugmire report that McKnight’s girlfriend and mother flew to the USC-Washington game in Seattle in September, and “McKnight said he didn’t know who paid for their transportation to the game.”
If the L.A. Times reportage about the SUV is accurate, it’s reasonable to think that McKnight may miss USC’s bowl game against Boston College in San Francisco Dec. 26.
If it appears there could be NCAA violations out of this situation, McKnight will also be gone to the NFL.
I want to feel bad for McKnight, but his sheer stupidity and subsequent lack of honesty makes that almost impossible.
UPDATE: Jill Painter of the L.A. DAILY NEWS has a follow:
USC coach Pete Carroll has confirmed an L.A. Times report that the school is investigating Joe McKnight for allegedly driving a sport utility vehicle owned by a Santa Monica businessman. Carroll was unsure if this would affect McKnight’s status for the bowl game.
8:12 pm on December 18th, 2009
Maybe you shouldn’t feel sorry for him because he attends USC where this activity seems completely acceptable. Reggie Bush & the agent. Dwayne Jarrett living in luxury with Leinart.
This story is not surprising.
8:22 pm on December 18th, 2009
Lane Kiffin learned from Pete Carrol’s dirty ways, except Lane is too stupid to execute them without getting caught. They’ll both be discovered soon enough.
8:46 pm on December 18th, 2009
Nothing will ever come of this. Same story every year with USC, and the NCAA does nothing. Why? Because they need a real team on the West Coast.
10:12 pm on December 18th, 2009
USC dirty..nahhhh..i refuse to believe it
10:16 pm on December 18th, 2009
First Rule of being a Pimp:
1. know that the ho will take some cash off the top.
thats why student athletes should be paid
10:45 pm on December 18th, 2009
:”
First Rule of being a Pimp:
1. know that the ho will take some cash off the top.
thats why student athletes should be paid”
_________
Wrong. They should not be paid. Its their problem that they don’t take advantage of a free education to a school most of them would have never been able to get accepted to without sports. Perhaps they should realize most of them won’t even sniff the NFL, and that maybe they should have a backup plan, but then again, that’s one reason why they’re called jocks.
11:13 pm on December 18th, 2009
Student athletes are paid, indirectly. They get a free college education.
11:54 pm on December 18th, 2009
If this is true not only will his college career be over but his draft status isn’t even near a Percy Harvin and he dropped to the Vikings. Joe will be lucky to go on the first day of the draft. And with all his fumbling problems, the hits that he will be taking in the NFL will be vicious. Joe will be known as Captain Fumblitis.
12:23 am on December 19th, 2009
This is par for the course at usc.Think ojmayo,reggie bush,et al.
5:00 am on December 19th, 2009
“Student athletes are paid, indirectly. They get a free college education.
and you have to be an idiot to not believe they are paid in other ways
11:56 am on December 19th, 2009
Why do people keep saying they get a “free education”. HEY IDIOTS IF IT WAS A “FREE EDUCATION” THEY WOULDN’T HAVE TO PLAY FOOTBALL FOR A SCHOLARSHIP. They’ve EARNED their education, thus it isn’t free. And if they’ve earned their way, they can do whatever they want with their education, including blow it. No one tells you what to do with your money on your job or cares if you blow it, so you might want to be less critical and stfu. If anything, it’s a missed opportunity. The only question comes when certain star athletes that are stars that make millions for universities.
1:05 pm on December 19th, 2009
Aside from just free tuition, housing, food, tutoring, equipment, competition gifts… at a private school, we were absorbing close to 50K per year. And we weren’t one of the three big sports.
To say that student-athletes deserve more is ludicrous.
2:12 pm on December 19th, 2009
lol…Deacon Drake, I certainly don’t think all student-athletes deserve “more”, just certain student-athletes at certain universities who participate in revenue generating sports. There should be a scale and the scale should be based upon how much the sport generates for each respective school. Sports like football and basketball generate millions for many universities. Alumni donations, tv contracts, merchandise revenue, overall institutional enhancement (I chose University of MIchigan for undergrad over a couple of other schools because of the emergence of the Fab Five and Desmond Howard had just won the Heisman…I would never tell my parents that…hey I was 17 what did I know?).
A couple of stars, like Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush generate HUGE revenue for their respective universities. Think about the millions Tebow has created for Florida and the Gainsville community. This kid had a tremendous effect on the local economy. Tebow is not a Pro QB. He will not have an opportunity to see much of that money and even if he did have a relatively successful professional career, it is patently unfair that neither Florida nor the NCAA has a legal obligation to pay him for his extraordinary services.
Yeah…I’m a lawyer…
7:39 pm on December 19th, 2009
The NCAA, which governs major college sports, prohibits student athletes from accepting benefits from marketing representatives or agents or “extra benefits” based on their athletic ability.
Well yes but not USC they have the USC Basketball team cold no question but they haven’t done anything. The NCAA has prove about the money and house in the Reggie Bush case and they haven’t done anything. The NCAA has lost it ability to control major College sports at the biggest Universities.
etball
2:15 am on December 20th, 2009
Still trying to figure out why the NCAA haven’t concluded their case on Reggie Cash — I mean Bush. Like the other guy said — they need a real team on the West Coast to compete on a National scale. If you play with matches — you’re bound to get burned. USC and UcheaT are going down.
3:09 am on December 20th, 2009
THEY DO HAVE A BACKUP PLAN, ITS CALLED PRISON
12:07 pm on December 21st, 2009
My brother (a die hard Auburn fan)has insisted for more than 20 years that the college athletes should be paid since they are a minor league for the NFL)but I have stead fastedly disagreed with him. Of course we are on different ends of Alabama, I am in Huntsville and he is in Dothan area. Yes I am an Alabama Crimson Tide fan. If this were Bama with the problems, the NCAA would be all over their rear ends with Abrams Tanks as starters. Reggie Bush and others at USC have been in the limelight for years now and not a peep from the NCAA on their status. If they go now it is possible SC will be eligible for the “Death Penalty” as repeat offenders. Don’t know if I will live long enough to see that happen though.
8:57 pm on December 26th, 2009
These so-called athletes are getting an education and learning what the real world is all about, the privilaged can get away with anything and the poor slobs that pay tution for their childern, shell out the money to support sports and all else are the real losers who pay for it all in this. I disagree with giving anything away for free as others still have to pay for it, no matter what skills you have.
This is why America is going down hill. We teach our kids that if you are privilaged you can get away with Killing, Drugs, Making kids and not supporting them (Just like Joe McKnight)….