The thing that bugs me most about this is that there really is no penalty for the offenders. They're still making millions, got a free education, and worked the system to their maximum benefit.
They should be made to pay for the entire education they received at the very least.
There were rumors about OJ Mayo taking money before he even entered USC but everyone turned their heads. Once again, I call "Bullshit"!!
The issue is that everyone is doing it. I went to a small Div 1 school and even they were doing it! If it's not cash, it's cars, or clothes, or other things. Sports are such a money maker for the universities, especially when winning, that they'll do anything to get that player that will help them win.
I'm not saying I think what they did was right, but just imagine if you're an 18 year old kid that gets offered a house on top of a free education to play the sport that you love. It's gotta be pretty tempting, especially with no guarantee that you'll ever make the pros, to take that house.
It seems like every couple of years the NCAA will find a school to bust, just to prove a point, and then turn their heads for the next couple of years. Heck, go to UT Austin and hang out with some football players. You'll notice that they don't exactly have to pay for a lot of things when they're out and about in Austin; they're like gods. This is the same in many cities with top football programs. Where do you draw the line?
I saw something about this on Jim Rome is burning and he had a bit about Nick Saban from Alabama talking about agents and perhaps barring NFL scouts from attending practices as, apparently, a number of schools have already done. I don't know how much this has to do with Reggie Bush and his award.
As far as the Heisman, I think that USC is overreacting. I mean, after all, they're not in any rush to return O. J. Simpson's Heisman and OJ whacked his ex-wife and her beau (allegedly). But USC can do what they want.
I don't think that it would be appropriate for Bush to have to give back HIS Heisman. After all, the skill level in which he played while in college earned that trophy for him and it had nothing to do with him accepting gratuities.
These agents, as well as college recruiters and alumni, do more to tempt kids who, in a lot of cases, have grown up with very little to nothing. So you're an 18 year old getting ready to graduate from high school and some big time college recruiter waves a house deed or a $50K car or a wad of bills in your face and society at large expects you to take the moral high road. And in an ideal world you do. But you have a single mom who, by her own efforts, tried her best to bring up a bunch of kids while in the welfare system and this is the real world.
What do you do then?