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NCAA版 - Oregon RB Coach tied to TX street agent Lyles
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话题: lyles话题: he话题: hartman话题: said话题: randle
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H*****r
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some bad news for LSU too
Updated Mar 13, 2011 12:12 PM ET
LEAGUE CITY, Texas
About this series
There’s a crisis brewing in college football recruiting. The NCAA is
examining the role of third parties, commonly known as “street agents,”
and their expanding influence in recruiting. This effort could result in new
rules to curb their power.
In this first installment of a four-part series, FOXSports.com profiles Will
Lyles, a reputed Houston “street agent,” who has emerged as one of
college football’s most controversial figures.
Thayer Evans, Senior College Football Writer
Clint Hartman was used to college coaches visiting last spring at Clear
Springs High School in this burgeoning suburb southeast of Houston.
They wanted to see his star player, outside linebacker Trevon Randle, a
versatile, 6-foot-1, 205-pounder who had been timed at 4.46 seconds in the
40-yard dash.
But when Oregon running backs coach Gary Campbell, a Texas native, visited,
he did so with another man who Hartman at first thought was a fellow Ducks
assistant coach.
At the end of the visit, the man congratulated Hartman for his success at
Clear Springs High, which opened three years ago, and told him that he didn
’t like rival Clear Creek High School.
“You’re doing a hell of a job,” Hartman recalled the man telling him. “I
’ve been in this area for a while.”
The man’s comments puzzled Hartman, who didn’t understand how Oregon could
have an assistant coach who lived locally. Uneasy about the visit, he and
one of his assistants logged on to Google and typed in two words:
Will Lyles.
Hartman knew Lyles, a Houston resident, only by name and Lyles’ reputation
as a “street agent,” a third party who steers recruit to certain colleges.
Hartman had heard that Lyles had been instrumental in Oregon’s signing of
Temple, Texas, star tailback Lache Seastrunk just a couple of months earlier.
When Hartman clicked on one of the Google search results, a photo appeared
of the man who had just been in his office with Campbell. It had been Lyles.
A week later, Hartman crossed paths with Lyles again. This time he was with
LSU defensive line coach Brick Haley, who had come to see Randle. When Lyles
tried to walk onto the field, Hartman told him to return to the parking lot.
Hartman later called Haley and told him that Lyles was never to return to
Clear Springs High.
Who's who in this story
Will Lyles: Has Houston-based business called Complete Scouting Services.
Reputed “street agent.” Being scrutinized by NCAA after receiving $25,000
payment from Oregon for scouting package and reportedly for his relationship
with Oregon running back Lache Seastrunk.
Trevon Randle: Houston-area high school linebacker who signed with LSU last
month. Has relationship with Lyles.
Clint Hartman: Randle’s high school coach. Banned Lyles from his campus
after Lyles visited him with Oregon and LSU coaches. Told assistant coaches
to call police if they saw him.
Lache Seastrunk: Oregon running back from Texas who redshirted this past
season. NCAA reportedly looking into his relationship with Lyles.
LaMichael James: Oregon junior running back from Texas, who finished third
in last season’s Heisman Trophy voting. NCAA reportedly looking into his
relationship with Lyles.
Trey Williams: Houston running back who is one of nation’s top recruits in
Class of 2012. Knows Lyles.
Willie Amendola: Trey Williams’ high school coach who said an Oregon coach
and Lyles visited him about Williams.
Thayer Evans, Senior College Football Writer
“I didn’t know the guy, Coach,” Hartman recalled Haley saying of Lyles.
“He showed up and said he was helping the last guy here for LSU.”
Hartman knew that wasn’t true. After all, LSU had never previously
recruited at Clear Springs High.
But what Hartman didn’t know then was that Randle and his father, Raymond
Edwards, already had a relationship with Lyles. Last month, Randle signed
with LSU.
Hartman said he warned the Greater Houston Football Coaches Association
about Lyles after talking to numerous college football coaches.
“I said, ‘If this guy’s around your kids, you need to get his (expletive)
away,’” Hartman told FOXSports.com in January. “I don’t like no part of
that guy. He’s a notorious street agent.”
NCAA investigators have been busy in the Houston area. On Wednesday and
Thursday, two investigators interviewed Hartman, Randle and Randle’s father
about Lyles, according to a source familiar with the matter.
They also interviewed Andy Dekaney High School running back Trey Williams
and his coach, Willie Amendola, according to a source familiar with the
matter. Lyles accompanied Campbell when he visited Amendola about Williams
during the 2009 season. Like Seastrunk was, Williams is one of the nation’s
top running backs, but so far the Class of 2012 recruit has not made his
college choice.
Both Hartman and Amendola declined comment this week. NCAA spokesman Erik
Christianson did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone
Saturday.
But Hartman was vocal in January about his disdain for Lyles. He said he had
told his assistant coaches to call the police if they ever see Lyles on
campus again.
“We (expletive) hate him,” Hartman said.
'WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING WRONG'
Last week, Oregon released an invoice for which it paid $25,000 to Lyles in
March 2010 for a “2011 National Package" from his business, Complete
Scouting Services. He submitted the invoice on Feb. 22, 2010, less than
three weeks after Seastrunk, one of last year’s top high school running
backs, signed with Oregon in a surprising decision.
Oregon maintains it has committed no wrongdoing, and that the purchase of
scouting services from Lyles is allowed under NCAA rules. Oregon athletic
director Rob Mullens said the Ducks are cooperating with the NCAA’s request
for documents related to their purchases of services from scouting agencies.
Campbell said he did visit high schools with Lyles, but doesn’t recall how
often.
“I’m a little bit puzzled about this whole thing with Will,” Campbell
said. “Will runs a legitimate scouting service. We have a lot of scouting
services. He’s just one of them. I just don’t understand what the big deal
about this scouting service and paying Will is all about.”
DIVINE INTERVENTION?
Part 2 of a four-part series profiles the recruitment of Lache Seastrunk,
who said God told him to sign with Oregon.
“I don’t think Will did anything wrong. I mean, I know he didn’t do
anything wrong with us because he knew that we weren’t going to do anything
outside of the rules. I don’t know what he did with other people, but he
never did anything with us. He never helped us. He just gave us information.”
Campbell said Lyles directed Oregon to several players, but never said he
would help the Ducks get a player.
“We weren’t doing anything wrong,” Campbell said of Oregon using Lyles’
scouting service. “It wasn’t a secret. It wasn’t hidden or anything. We
came right out and showed everybody we paid him and we’re going to pay him
this year because he helped us last year.”
Lyles became involved with Seastrunk the summer before his junior year and
at times stayed with him and his mother at their house, according to
Seastrunk’s coach at Temple High School, Bryce Monsen.
The NCAA is looking into Lyles’ relationships with Seastrunk and Ducks star
tailback LaMichael James, who also is from Texas, according to an ESPN.com
report last week.
If Lyles assisted in or were involved in the recruitment of players to
Oregon, the NCAA would consider him a booster, and any payment to him would
be considered a violation of Bylaw 13, which prohibits boosters from
directing a recruit to a school.
Efforts to reach Lyles as of Saturday were unsuccessful. A man at Lyles’
Houston home on Friday said he did not know Lyles but agreed to give him a
message.
A man at Lyles’ parents’ house in Missouri City, Texas, who identified
himself as Lyles’ brother said Lyles has not done anything improper.
“It just looks real wrong,” the man said. “I know the whole story. I’ve
been there since Day One. It just seems bad. It is what it is right now.”
COMING UP 7S
Part 3 of a four-part series looks at the national proliferation of 7-on-7
and why it is ripe for street agents gaining access to players.
Oregon coach Chip Kelly did not immediately return a message left on his
cell phone Saturday, but Seastrunk, James and Ducks starting quarterback
Darron Thomas all spoke openly to FOXSports.com about Lyles and his
influence in January during media day for the BCS title game.
Thomas, a graduate of Aldine High School in Houston, called Lyles “Will the
recruiter” but said Lyles wasn’t involved in his decision to attend
Oregon. Thomas said he learned that Lyles is from Texas after seeing him at
a couple of Oregon games. “He’s one of the guys that’s got a lot of us
Texas guys out here,” Thomas said.
“He brings a lot of Texas to this team — a guy that Coach Kelly and them
out there now recruiting in Texas a lot. Like I said, he’s a big recruiting
guy just leading guys.”
Thomas said Lyles and James are “good friends.” James, who starred at
Liberty-Eylau High School in Texarkana, Texas, said he knows Lyles and
described him as “a good guy.
“He was the one who got me a scholarship to Oregon. I think he’s the one
who sent the coaches my film.”
James said he knows Lyles only “on a professional level,” but said he
still talked to him.
“He’s very influential to me and I know to Lache and just different
players,” James said. “I mean he really is a great guy.”
Asked what Lyles’ job was, James said he was unsure.
“I really don’t know exactly his role or what you would call his job,”
James said. “I just know he gets kids scholarships.”
STRANGE ODYSSEY
Part 4 of a four-part series profiles Michigan signee Chris Barnett, who has
endured a chaotic journey.
Like Hartman, Amendola didn’t know who Lyles was when he visited Dekaney
High with Campbell in 2009. But when a reporter informed him about Lyles and
his involvement with Williams late last season, Amendola also did internet
research and recognized Lyles as the man with Campbell.
Amendola said he then talked to Williams, who admitted he knew Lyles.
Williams had “a strange relationship” with Lyles, Amendola said.
“He wasn’t quite sure who Mr. Will was and what his angle was,” Amendola
told FOXSports.com last month. “I guess he kind of plays himself off as
being a trainer of some kind. I don’t know how far that went.”
Amendola said he told Williams that Lyles was believed to be a street agent,
but Williams assured Amendola that Lyles wasn’t involved with him in that
capacity.
“I told him this guy’s not what you need,” Amendola said. “Other people
have reiterated that to him so I think he’s kind of separated himself.”
'THE INFO GUY'
When Randle and his father first met Lyles at the U.S. Army All-American
Combine in San Antonio in January 2010, Lyles was one of the event’s
biggest power brokers. His prize pupil, Seastrunk, was one of the most
touted players participating in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American Bowl and
Seastrunk’s undecided college future was a major storyline.
Randle said meeting Lyles was helpful because he and his father were
initially overwhelmed and uninformed about the recruiting process.
SIDELINE SMILES
They're part of what makes college football great. View our tribute to
cheerleaders.
“He kept giving us info about different schools,” Randle told FOXSports.
com in January. “Made sure people wasn’t leaving. Types of coaches they
had. Some of those coaches didn’t come down here. He would maybe call and
talk to them because he knows a lot of coaches. … He was just the info guy.”
Later in the interview, Randle said, “He was looking after me.”
Randle said Lyles talked to him a lot about California and Miami. He said
Lyles didn’t have to talk to him much about Oregon, because “I told him
about Oregon.” But Randle said Lyles knew Ducks coach Chip Kelly well.
Just over a month after meeting Lyles, Randle committed to LSU at a Tigers
junior day. Randle said he consulted with his parents before choosing LSU,
but said his father is “pretty tight” with Lyles.
Randle’s father did not immediately return a message left on his cell phone
Saturday.
Instead of LSU’s junior day, Randle had been scheduled to attend Oklahoma’
s junior day, but he changed his plans the day before, Hartman said.
“This whole time he had led up saying he wanted to play at Oklahoma,”
Hartman said.
Having committed to LSU, Randle said he later spent time with Lyles while
attending LSU summer camps. He said Lyles was particularly close with Haley,
who recruited him for the Tigers.
Efforts to reach Haley on Saturday were unsuccessful.
CONTACT THAYER EVANS
If you have a question or comment for Thayer, submit it below and he may
just respond.
Subject: Comment/Question: Name: Email Address: Hometown:
“Now, that’s a funny guy right there,” Randle said of Lyles. “That guy
right there, he can eat. He knows about every restaurant in Baton Rouge and
he introduced me to all of them. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t know
anything about the food places down there.”
Randle said Lyles never told him to choose a specific school. Yet he said
Lyles told him that going to LSU was a good decision for him.
“He said it fit me well because the environment and the defense they run
and the type of player I am,” Randle said.
Randle’s version of his relationship with Lyles, however, is far different
than what Hartman said Randle told him. When Hartman asked Randle about
Lyles, he said Randle told him that he didn’t know Lyles or talk to him.
“I think Trovon’s the one getting (expletive) in the whole deal,” Hartman
said.
Memphis coach Larry Porter knows Lyles from his time as assistant head coach
at LSU. After Memphis hired Porter away from LSU in November 2009,
Seastrunk started considering Memphis as a college choice.
In an interview in July, Porter described Lyles as “a genuine guy with me
so I have nothing negative to say about him.”
But Porter said he was unsure whether Lyles is a positive influence in
college football.
“I don’t know the conversations he’s having with these kids when we’re
not around,” Porter said. “We’re not around him much. Who knows where the
influences are coming at the end of the day?”
“I think the kids listen to him. I do. Some kids he’s probably closer to
than others. Some kids know that he goes around to a lot of different
universities so some of them like to jump in the car with him. What goes on
and what’s being said, again, I have no clue.”
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相关话题的讨论汇总
话题: lyles话题: he话题: hartman话题: said话题: randle