Collegiate rule breakers should pay a price as pros

alen1 · May 18, 2008

So Mayo is gone. According to the Los Angeles Times, Mayo took his last USC final exam Wednesday, stopped long enough to say Johnson's allegations were "a publicity stunt," and soon drove away in a new Porsche Cayenne GTS. It could have been his car. It could have been a friend's car. All I know is, earlier this week, Mayo said he was "a struggling college student" who rode his bicycle to classes.

If an NCAA investigation uncovers rules violations, there's nothing it can do to the man who allegedly provided the money and gifts, or to the player who allegedly accepted them. Mayo would be wearing an Iron Man suit -- invincible from the NCAA and happily embraced by the NBA team that drafts him.

Guillory and the firm he allegedly represented -- Bill Duffy Associates Sports Management -- might be subject to California misdemeanor charges, which isn't exactly the same thing as doing time at the federal pen in Lompoc. And there's always the chance that USC could file a lawsuit. The school has sued agents in the past.

Or we could try something more radical.

"The only way to approach this is to literally go after the agent and the player," said a prominent sports agent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "That's the two you've got to stop. Right now there's no deterrent."

So here's what you do: If a player is caught taking cash and/or gifts from an agent or the agent's runner (we can figure out the appropriate monetary threshold later), he forfeits a portion or all of his NBA rookie season. And if a player isn't getting paid, the agent isn't getting paid.

"I think it's a great idea," said the agent. "You've got to take away the agent's ability to make a living and the player's ability to make a living."
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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3398514&sportCat=nba

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