I say it was a tad light. Clearly we were trying to illegally pay to influence players from Texas to come here and it seems the loss of a few scholarships and slight crimp in recruiting is a light slap on the wrist.
True, but think about. We were flat out paying $25,000 to a con artist for influnceing players to play here. Then, after we got caught, we tried to cover up by getting grainy video of the players in 5th grade or some such thing. Now, that said, you are correct in that none of the players did come here and we fully cooperated (unlike USC & OSU) but it sure could have been a lot worse.
actually two of the players in question did come here Lache Seastrunk and Dontae Williams (Both ended up transferring). Seastrunk at least was determined ineligible by UO a couple years ago, and instead of working back into being eligible, he transferred. (For Family reasons)
thats the Canzano narrative and not one I buy. Lyles had been working for years with another scouting service prior to going into business for himself. Oregon had established a relationship with Lyles because they'd hired this service in previous years. In that first year with WL, the NCAA changed the rules of how a service was allowed to relay it's info. Previously phone conversations were the main way that things were relayed, but midway through that first year the NCAA started requiring written information be the conduit. Will didn't provide the University with any written info probably because he wasn't aware of the changes. There are logs of him spending endless hours on the phone with Oregon coaches though, so he was probably just thinking business as usual. When the deadline for him submitting written scouting reports passed and he hadn't, Oregon realized they were operating outside the rules and tried to get him produce the documents that he was required to provide. They then self reported a possible violation and according to the NCAA were very cooperative throughout the investigation. They gained nothing but headaches from this & according to the judge/jury/executioner played their cards face up. To me the penalty was pretty much what I was expecting so yeah, the punishment fit the "crime". Look for Oregon to finally tell their side of things now that the gag order is lifted STOMP
Arik Armstead tweet..."Chip told me the sanctions wasnt going to be that bad on my home visit. I was never worried" STOMP
“Throughout this process, there has been speculation and innuendo regarding the nature and severity of potential violations, much of which was unfounded. As stated by the NCAA Enforcement Staff, the violations committed in this case were unintentional. The University of Oregon remains committed to fair play, integrity and the best interests of our student-athletes. We have all learned from this experience and look forward to continuing the progress of broad-based excellence in Oregon athletics.” -statement released by athletic director Rob Mullens STOMP
