Well, as can be expected, the Bush family has denied any wrongdoing in the events that Yahoo! Sports began reporting on yesterday. Right now, the common perception is that Bush is still going to be drafted, paid a lot of money, and live his life with no negative effects, regardless of how this story unfolds. Well, that may not be exactly right. ESPN’s Joe Schad reported this afternoon that the Heisman Committee is meeting to discuss what possible actions needed to be taken by them depending on the outcome of this story. If there were any rules broken, it’s possible Bush may have to vacate his award.
As far as fallout for the Trojans, they would more than likely NOT have to wipe their record from last year.
Since Bush has left school, any punishment would likely involve Bush vacating school records, Schad reported. A source told Schad that because it was not an “institutional violation” and USC received no competitive advantage, it is not likely that the school would have to vacate victories. This could technically occur, however, if it is ruled Bush should not have been eligible.
You hate to see any young player make a bad decision, but you especially hate it when the bad decision they make, hurts others who had no involvement. Hopefully, the NCAA will make the right move, but then again, it IS the NCAA, and most of the time, they choose to make an example of all the wrong folks and tend to give a slight slap on the wrist to the major infractions, if that. I’ll believe it when I see the NCAA doing the right thing.