You Must Be Kidding
In the wake of USC's NCAA violations and the penalties handed down to USC from the NCAA, it has become public knowledge that USC's Juniors and Seniors are eligible to transfer without having to sit out a year and that schools are "allowed" to contact them. However, according to USC's true freshman RB, Dillion Baxter, several schools have contacted him to gauge his interest in transferring. Here's the problem, Baxter is a true freshman and schools are not allowed to contact him.
Meanwhile, USC true freshman running back Dillon Baxter told the school's director of compliance that five schools illegally contacted him in the wake of USC's NCAA penalties, according to a document reviewed by ESPN's Joe Schad.
In a letter written by USC director of compliance Matt Billings to Pac-10 Associate Commissioner for Governance and Enforcement Ron Barker, Florida, Washington, Oregon, Fresno State and Alabama allegedly contacted Baxter.
The letter states in part: "I just met with [Baxter] and he told me that he received phone calls from five institutions [June 10th]. All of the institutions asked if he was interested in transferring from USC due to the NCAA decision. Would you please speak with these schools to remind them they cannot speak to this student athlete?"
http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/ncf/news/story?id=5275644
Let's take whether or not schools are allowed to talk to Baxter off the table for just a second. Here is a list of those schools the number of players they signed last year: Florida (27), Washington (31), Oregon (23), Fresno State (21), and Alabama (29).
Do any of those schools, especially Florida, Washington or Alabama, strike you as a school that has scholarship room? We know Alabama doesn't, they still need to shed players. So if the report is true and they did contact Baxter, where the heck were they going to put him, or better yet, who are the going to cut from the team to get him in if he wants to come? Same for Florida and Washington. If these reports are true and there are schools contacting these players, which by the way are elite prospects for the most part, and they can't prove that there is an opening on the roster at the time they are talking to the players, then they should be publicly reprimanded and denied access to the players. The NCAA has got to come up with a way of managing these situations.
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June 13th, 2010 - 13:40
Do you honestly think there may be even an ounce of truth to this? USC gets hammered and the first thing com/ing out of there is accusations against other programs, I find it extremely suspicious. Lane does kinda have a history of falsely accusing other teams you know.
Why would Alabama want this kid anyway? They have the best runningback corps in the country, and Bama doesn’t recruit scatbacks (at least they haven’t since Saban arrived.) There is no proof of any of this since he reportedly “lost” his cell phone. Furthermore, Saban was at a charity golf tournament that day.
June 13th, 2010 - 19:21
Just got back in town so trying to catch up, but this one doesn’t even upset me. I do think Kiffin had something to do with it to get some attention for himself and the program. Sorry but I do not feel sorry for USC.
Also the big question for UA is not where would they fit him in, but why would they want him now when they didn’t even offer him in the first place. We offered alot of RBs a spot for the 2010 class and Baxter was never offered a scholarship verbally or written. So I guess I am curious why this is even an issue for this site.
June 13th, 2010 - 19:28
The only issue here is if there are schools looking to acquire players from USC when they don’t have room for them. I doubt it will happen because it would be such a PR nightmare for a school to take a JR or SR from USC and push out a recruit, but I don’t put anything past some coaches. I too found it interesting that Alabama would be on the list, especially for a guy at that position. Regardless, that was what ESPN was reporting.
June 13th, 2010 - 19:38
That is why I am not upset, especially since we have the top 2 RBs in the 2011 class on campus tommorow. Maybe Baxter is good but we never offered so I never followed him.
BTW ESPN=Everyday Sports Paparazzi Network.LOL
June 15th, 2010 - 11:47
I have to agree with you about ESPN.
ESPN is good for highlights and live sports, otherwise it’s the National Enquirer of sports journalism
June 13th, 2010 - 19:33
Way to jump on the hype man… c’mon… You must’ve loved that one when you read it. Too bad Baxter conveniently ‘lost’ his phone so the records couldn’t be checked. Bama probably went after him because we really needed a top notch RB. Oh, wait a sec…
Your article should still be named “You Must Be Kidding”, but w/ the slant against USC and Baxter for completely fabricating a story. At least other reporting on this was simply reporting the matter… You took it to a whole new level by jumping on it and giving your false opinion.
Last, does this have anything to do w/ oversigning, or do you report on anything that gives Bama a negative story? Seriously… seems viewership and responses on your site have been severely dwindling. Welcome to being non-relevant. Good thing you have passionate Alabama fans to keep your site alive. Keep up the good work.
I WILL NOT BE RESPONDING ANYMORE AND I WOULD ENCOURAGE OTHER BAMA FANS TO DO THE SAME. LET THIS GUY RUN W/ HIS NONSENSE WHILE OSU LOOSES IN THE NEXT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME THEIR IN.
June 14th, 2010 - 08:29
Kiffin is a liar…nuff said….
June 14th, 2010 - 09:14
Could be the case…what’s the motive though and why name several schools…just sounds strange.
June 14th, 2010 - 09:29
seriously? Did you not listen to him last year at Tennessee? He runs his mouth to keep his name in the media. He calls out Urban Meyer for cheating, when he wasnt cheating. He claims moral victories. He does anything to keep himself in the media. If he mentions Alabama, the school that just won the national title, as a school looking to ‘steal’ one of his players, that just gives him more attention. The schools he mentions are all either high profile or up and coming teams now, except for Fresno St.
June 14th, 2010 - 09:30
Tell Dillon to produce the phone records or STFU. It’s that simple. Otherwise, it’s simply another Kiffen lie, trying to turn some of the heat away from his program, and on to others.
July 7th, 2010 - 11:43
Hello Joshua,
Just providing an answer to this post from last month. It seems that yes, Dillon Baxter was kidding.
Here’s an article about it. http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/the_sporting_blog/entry/view/70729/usc_apologizes_to_alabama,_florida_for_saying_dillon_baxter_was_illegally_contacted
July 7th, 2010 - 14:45
The idea that Alabama or Florida would have contacted this kid was absurd. That story had Lane Kiffin’s stench on it from the beginning. Kiffin was publicly reprimanded by the SEC commissioner twice last year for running his mouth, including once when he accused Urban Meyer of cheating and it turned out Kiffin didn’t know the rules. That episode involved NuKeese Richardson, who didn’t make it through his freshman year because he was kicked out of school after participating in an armed robbery.
Only an idiot with an agenda would have given that story any credence.