USC Morning Buzz: Did Steve Sarkisian Know Assistant Allegedly Paid Recruit?

The NCAA, USC and Washington will meet Friday with a high school football coach from Lynnwood, Wash., who claims Huskies assistant Tosh Lupoi paid him $4,500 for tutoring and online classes.

Lynnwood coach Mike Davis told the Los Angeles Times he received two payments from Lupoi. Davis told the Seattle Times he was “flabbergasted” that Lupoi paid him.

Now the question is what did Sarkisian know, if anything? He would be subject to new NCAA rules that presume he is responsible for any violation committed by his assistants.

Remember USC A.D. Pat Haden said he fully vetted Sarkisian when he hired him as coach.

101 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Did Steve Sarkisian Know Assistant Allegedly Paid Recruit?

  1. This is absolutely HILARIOUS!! isn’t Pat Haden part of the NCAA’s compliance committee and one of the front runners in making sure everyone plays by the rules? And wasn’t he the one that said the head coach is responsible for everything his assistants do? And the there’s “no excuse for ignorance”? Hollywood could not make this stuff up. And you SUCsters wonder why the v entire country laughs at your joke of a football program. Nice hire PH!!! LMFAO

      • Honorable? Scott Wolf reported years ago that Norm Chow felt betrayed by his protege Sarkiffian for his role in Chow’s forced ouster from USC after the glorious 2004 season.

      • Snark is a two faced wimp … he knew what he was getting in this Tush creep.
        See Snark !!!!

  2. Clear lack of institutional control. Dock the University of Washington 30 scholarships over 3 years; bowl ban for 2 years; vacate all of Sarkisian’s wins.

    • What wins?

      But really, this SC football “program” just keeps getting better and better. Replace Kiffin with Sarknado, only to learn after full vetting that Sarknado is just as cheaty at Petey.

      As the great Les Norton would say – And da fun don’t done!

    • For that to occur, Sarkiffen would have to stonewall the NCAA for five years, while writing books about the encounter…

  3. Assistant should have stay at cal. . Money will do that. Big raise when he when to Wash. . Didn’t want his legs broken.

    • perhaps…or maybe he got to be one of the top recruiters in the nation before going to UW by using the brown bag method

  4. If the LA Times article is all true, Lupoi is toast as a college coach. There is a lot of detail in the story. Sark has some explaining to do. Haden will take the open, cooperative approach with the NCAA.

      • Not as easy as you morons do at your annual canonization memorial service for ‘jonnie’

        “Oh divine fraud that wast able to elude detection thanks to the 4th estate, NCAA and the mob we come before thee on bended knees as we worship you fraudulent con man – you truly were one….Oh come let us adore him….”

    • This all revolves around Davis – his account of who approached who what dates, where and what was handed out – again why didn’t Davis tell Lupoi to call Kaplan direct? Something is missing – you don’t get into this pattern overnight for a what? According to Davis he got nothing out of it – then why do it? It doesn’t make sense.

  5. So, at this point the greatest staff in college football has who on it? No Tosh, no Klemm, no Coach O. Sarknadooooooo!

  6. (Dragnet theme) iiiiiiis it true? Lupoi was just following orders??? This is a page right out of the Chetey Peteys play book!!!

    Have Asst coach handle the logistics, then Deny Deny Deny!!!

    But is Lupoi gonna take a bullet for Sarkdasian???

    ANOTHER HUMILIATING KICK TO CROTCH OF SOUTHERN CAL!!!!

    I don’t make ’em up, paly!!!!

    • “We’ll just handle it in-house…” – Classic Cheaty Petey’s line for every violation or criminal act! Hire a Cheat On! Carrying Petey’s Tradition On!

  7. The whole story is strange – not one but numerous meetings by Lupoi with Davis – restaurant, campus, etc.. Lupoi noting that Davis has a relative that works for Kaplan (testing firm) happened to also be at a track meet where Davis and Lupoi discussed Basham (recruit’s) academic hurdles.

    What is puzzling in the story is Davis’ involvement – he (Davis) claims Lupoi caimed he would only deal with Davis in securing help for Basham via Kaplan. Here’s a high school track coach accepting money (cash $3,000), deposits it and then writes a check for tutoring fees – if he gained nothing from this (true?) then why even accept the money in the first place? The fact that Lupoi stated he would only deal directly with Davis shows either the naivete of Davis or there is something still missing – something is missing here.

    • You are exactly right here! I have a good friend who played at Florida and won the Natty with Spurrier. He played Dline and was drafted as Jr, in the first round. I only say this because he was a major recruit coming out of high school. I love just listening to the recruiting stories he tells. I can tell you this, he said Aubrn and Alabama were by far the dirtiest according to him. But in every story he said the same thing. It’s always straight cash homie!!! There was no reason to put the money in the bank and write a check. This guy screwed the pooch on purpose. We just need to wait and find out why?

      • Amen – make a paper trail for deniability then why get into it in the first place? The more this runs out the deeper this is going to go i.e. Davis is the key here

  8. Did anyone (including Wolf) actually READ the LA Times article that Wolf linked?

    “USC’s compliance office began investigating Lupoi last week after receiving a tip from someone who said Davis had been the middleman in a transaction between Lupoi and a recruit. The Times received a similar tip.”

    No….of course, the trolls and Wolf glanced over something and ran with it.

    Also, what is with this Davis guy? Sounds like he got screwed on a kickback deal.

  9. If Steve knew anything about this situation while he was at UW, he needs to resign immediately. Otherwise, we need more information on the situation before passing judgement.

  10. This would have been your story Wolfie but you were too busy stalking Lane Kiffin. It’s a good thing the LA Times hires real sports reporters. Scottie, take notes from Gary Klein. Start paying attention to the windshield of USC Football and not the rear-view mirror. Lane Kiffin is long gone, if you didn’t hear.

    • Well said – Klein is a far better reporter and journalist just a shame the old Herald beat writers are no longer around i.e. Wolf never worked for the H-E

      • SUCUDub fans everywhere, please pray for Comerade. No friends, no job, no prospects, no roof overhead. He just sits daily in public library blogging his rants and raves in imaginary streams incoherent consciousness.

    • Hank,

      Why are you wasting your time sucking up to your faux SouthCentral “family” instead of reconciling with your *real* family?

      No wonder you’ve been shunned by UCLA, $C and even your own son (no big loss, he’s a huge douchebag just like you).

      What a lonely, pathetic loser you’ve become. It’s tragic.

      • HeySUCs/ThaiMex/UCLA Owns/Redonculous/Dominate you/mora56, is that you?

        P.S.: Great picture! The only way UCLA wins half of their games is by targeting and taking out the star players. Did Mora teach you that?

        • Lose On, Lets not forget the major fact: UCLA 35 – suc 14. Ergo: SUCUDub LA football princess. SUCUDub’s new rah-rah chant – dive, dive, dive to the bottom.

          • Get used to it, CheatOn… you’ll be hearing the sweet sweet sounds of UCLA dominance for the foreseeable future, now that you can’t cheat your way to “glory.” Looks like Sarkiffin has already started you back down that road.

            Re: my avatar… Your butthurt is palpable. Enjoy your irrelevance, you impotent Ketchup & Mustard-wearing doofus.

            USC: where “tradition” means “Lack of Institutional Control”…

            Cheaty Petey. Lame Kiffin. Tim Floyd. Matt Leinart. Papadakis Taverna. Scott Schenter. Reggie Bushleague. O.J. Mayo. Brandon and Ryan Ting. Dwayne Jarrett. Joe McKnight. Lloyd Lake. Rodney
            Guillory. Jeff Trepagnier. Lodrick Stewart. Nick Young. Gabe Pruitt. Keary Colbert. Davon Jefferson. Li’l Romeo. Dwayne Polee. Los Angeles Trade Tech College. Deflating Footballs. Changing Jersey numbers.

            :::::::::::::::::::::

            “When I think about SC, it’s just SC, we’re going to beat them like we should. That’s the way we’re approaching it — it’s just SC.” – J.R. Henderson

          • You’re just angry that I called you out for wanting Mora as a coach (lulz, really, do you understand football or are you just pretending?). You’re also mad that you haven’t been able to push one comment on this site that was informative and well thought out.

            Mediocrity thy name is gotroy22. Try to reply to me with something worth my time, okay?

  11. This is definitely a tad more severe than being a part of a March Madness office pool that millions take part in every year for money!

  12. But, would an assistant just go off and do this on his own? Without Sarkiffen’s knowledge? Or, is this standard operating procedure learned from his mentor? Hmmmm….

  13. # 1. Always follow the money 2. Ask yourself “Why write a check?’ 3. Who benefits from the strange alleged – written check?

  14. If this story is true, it seems hard to believe that Sarkisian wouldn’t have known anything about what Lupoi was doing. Where did Lupoi get that money? If Lupoi was operating a slush fund with money from UW fans/alums, how could Sark possibly know nothing about it? Even if Sark wasn’t the guy handling the funds, it seems like he would at least have had to give it his blessing and then turn a blind eye to it.

  15. absolutely freeaking AMAZING!!! even during the boring pre-bowl lul, the trOXans find a way to kick themselves in the crotch!!!

    but will Lupoi take the fall for Sarkdasian, like McNair did for Petey???

    my personal Prediction: Paaaaaaaaaaain!!!

  16. Wooooow. Just woooooow. Man o man does Haden have egg on his face after this one.

    Well I guess it is safe to say that Lupoi isn’t coming to LA. And I guess we know why he hadn’t yet come… Sark obviously knew something about this…

  17. USC received a tip while vetting Lupoi. Scott, are you saying that when hiring a new coach a university should vet every single thing the programs and assistants did? Really? How would they go about it beyond the usual measures?

    • That would be a great idea after Pete hired the dog torturer who ended up getting us on probation.

  18. Now, it makes sense reading the whole article. Sarkiffen was the one who brought the brown paper bag with Tosh’s “agenda” in it and left at the booth for him! Brown Paper Bag and Coffee Cup On!

    • Rose Gilbert’s memorial seance is scheduled to be held at Hillside Mortuary – there’ll be the usual ‘de rigeur’ 21 police special salute for the squeeze of the ganef slug Sam the gum out man…replicas of sam laughing at jonnie will be sold to mourners with the proceeds going to the maintenance of jd morgan’s gravesite

      • c’mon ta@@ette, GET OVER IT!!!

        we took our slap on the wrist like MEN!!!

        what are you still crying about??

        those Nattys are the ALL TIME greatest team achievement of ALL TIMES!!!

        and if you stop 100 people in downtown LA, maybe one will know who papa G was, but 99 will know Wooden is the all time greatest and may yet be canonized as a saint!!!

        HAWR-HAWR!!!! CHOKE ON IT!!

      • You’re a credit to SUC fandom. Taking shots at the recently deceased wife of Sam Gilbert, who BTW, passed away 20 – 25 years ago. You’re very small, petty individual, someone, civil people dislike at first sight.

  19. All this over a 3* player. If this is true Lupoi doesn’t sound too bright. A guy who admitted he instructed his players to fake injuries, left Cal for UW two weeks before signing day, and who knows what he gave Shaq Thompson to go with him. If this didn’t send up red flags in the hiring of Sarkisian…Haden should start using his brain rather than his gut.

    • Lupoi was the same that Shaw called out after Sark ragged n Stanford faking injuries? Uh oh!

    • What you say would be true if not for the fact that coaches with checkered pasts are hired all of the time. Every school has one. You may not like it, but welcome to football.

      Still, if true, USC obviously shouldn’t hire him and UW would be wise to fire him.

        • The trolls got pissy yesterday when I mentioned Neuheisel’s problems with compliance. They don’t deal with hypocrisy (or truth) very well. So sad.

          • Yawn. Someone ran out of material. Hey, have you sought out therapy yet? There are services out there that help with anger issues! Don’t be a victim anymore!

          • Lose On you’re using my yawn bit. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – thanks. And yes, I’m a victim of your sub-Mendoza line intellect.

          • Just ask TJ Simers sometime why he was so ‘in love’ with ‘woodie’ – never a bad word about the woodster from TJ. He was TJ’s ‘step daddy’

            Then again TJ’s in his own ‘siberia’ – the OC Register – whose going to pay to read that rag?

          • And yet Neuheisel was awarded over $1 million from UW for unlawful termination after receiving bad advice from AD Barbara Hedges…..originally from SC. The only thing Neuheisel was guilty of at UCLA was being a bad coach.

          • His problems with compliance weren’t from UCLA. They were from before but UCLA still hired him.

            Neuheisel never said he did not violate rules. He did. However, the NCAA botched the investigation (like they usually do) which led to his dismissal. However, he still broke their rules on at least two occasions and made other questionable (but not illegal) moves that came to light. Still, because he could prove that the investigation was botched, he could argue that the basis of his termination was wrongful (I’m looking right now, I do not see them say it was unlawful).

          • If I remember correctly it was settled out of court…but I could be wrong as I don’t really care, The matter at UW with Slick Rick was about betting in an NCAA March Madness pool and Hedges advised him that it was okay and they later terminated him over that violation.

            The questions regarding Lupoi are a completely different set of circumstances involving direct payments that benefitted a potential recruit. Horse of a different color. I would imagine that Haden will stay a country mile away from him.

          • Mind explaining what went on with his recruiting tactics at both WA and CO?

            BTW I thought someone so focused on ‘female’ athletes would never stoop to mocking a female AD – Hedges was a disaster at both WA and AZ St.. I mean she hired slick Rick right?

          • Comrade…I think you are confusing me with someone else about female athletes…and not mocking Hedges because she is female but because she received her compliance education at USC.

            Hiring Slick Rick was stupid on many levels…but he did follow the rules at UCLA…just couldn’t coach

        • Comerade, it’s not UCLA coaches the NCAA is investigating, It’s SUCUDUbs new HC and the perp, Sark’s former UDub employee (and until yesterday someone Sark wanted on SUCUDub’s staff). UCLA doesn’t need to cheat to compete.

  20. Since Sark is responsible, it could result is a loss of 21 scholarships over the next 3 years! Idaho and Cal State Long Beach may be your new rivals!

  21. Real question is the timing of the disclosure – two weeks ago tomorrow.

    Who dropped the dime and why?

    • Exactly. The high school coach told the Seattle Times he didn’t come forward, but responded honestly when asked by the LA Times. Tosh certainly wouldn’t say anything, and why would the recruit spill the beans? Someone else knew.

  22. No one will really knows , coaches really don’t throw each other under the bus unless they want to commit career suicide . But if Steve Sarkision had anything to do with it USC better find out NOW !!!

  23. Against the rules? And thus stupid? Yes. But, what is wrong with paying for tutoring for a high school kid, even to get him eligible to attend UW? SC still can’t hire him, but as I read the terrific LA Times article (with actual information), the whole time I thinking wait a minute, every penny went straight to test prep or tutoring to help the kid no matter what happens on the football field. This should be allowed in the open instead of through coffee cups filled with cash. The system is screwed up.

    That said, I am sure this is the least of the coach’s violations.

    • Joe well said and yeah I agree a well vetted exhaustive study by Klen – attaboy also for ‘where’s the harm?’ Tutoring? Sure beats what Gilbert gave wooden’s boys – cars, apartments, services for their pregnant girl friends, cash –

    • Well, yes, but maybe let the NCAA pay for the tutoring, and then the kid is free to choose a school without being influenced by a particular school paying for it.

  24. Lupoi will not go down without taking Sarkisian down with him, you can bet USC is paying hush money right now, as we speak.

  25. You know what’s kind of weird: for most students, they must apply to colleges and the colleges pick and choose which students they want. Excellent records in academics, athletics, or other various forms of service allow other kids to be recruited in various ways – but, for the most part, students receive offers from universities and are courted for months until they choose where they will go. It is the student that decides where they will ultimately end up.

    The NFL is very different: it is the sole decision is up to the teams. Sure, I suppose a player could send out feelers to a team and make comments to the media about where he wants to go or doesn’t want to go (the former of which would be looked down upon). At the end of the day, the team decides who they want. The draft system ensures that talent is spread around (sort of) equally. I suppose one could collude with other teams, but it would be much more complicated to “buy” a player than it is at the college level.

    Even an agent system at the college level would be rife with abuse – both from the agent paying the prospect to schools paying the agent for access.

    Whenever you have wide eyed high school kids being whisked away on visits to places they likely have never been with coaches making grand promises – you are going to have problems. A draft system would be undesirable and an agent system would still have abuse. I’m not defending anything Lupoi may have done (or any other coach at any other university who has done similar things), but I’m saying the NCAA desperately needs a rethink on some of these issues or they need to stop being surprised when it happens (and perhaps some more equitable punishment where discretion is not the sole indicator of what the levy will be).

    Just food for thought.

    • Here’s a question #6 once asked the village computer: Why? and the computer crashed. I like to hear your pedantic take on: Why? I know you won’t crash, because you know everything and you want everybody to know just how intelligent you are. So crank up the wind machine Lose On.

    • One last thing Lose On: I’ve copied your “Just food for thought,” and faxed it to the world. And don’t worry your authorship is prominently attributed. Just think Lose On, the fame and fortune you’ve always desired.

      • Aw. Let me pwn you again: I never said anything I wrote was genius level – in fact, even people with the most basic of cognitive functions think about what I wrote. I simply pointed out a simple truth: that the way the system is structured allows these sorts of things to happen. I also pointed out how other systems prevent these same sorts of events from occurring by having other structures where human behavior is has the same incentives, but the complexities of the structure tend to prevent the behavior.

        I’m sorry that facts are hard. I’m also sorry that you would rather spend hours trolling on a blog with incoherent ramblings than say intelligent things that people deem worthy of reading. See, it’s far easier for you to engage in ad hominem attacks and irrelevant diatribes than actually face the music – probably because you’re tone deaf or you just cannot accept the tune.

        But really, I’m sort of worried. You’re even more incoherent today than other days. Are you sad that you feel lonely and insignificant which is only heightened by the holiday spirit where most people are going home to be with loved ones? You mad at my therapist comment? Or are you mad that you simply cannot come up with basic thoughts that anyone else can? Either way, so sad.

        But, heyy! Another UCLA troll who makes my existence the center of their world. Thank youu.

  26. I doubt very seriously if Tosh Lupoi worked by himself on this one . It just doesn’t make any sense for him to make a risky decision like that….for who ? And for what ?

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