H*****r
发帖数: 764 | 1 http://twitter.com/#!/SPORTSbyBROOKS/status/88278403203088384
The key figure in the NCAA investigation into the University of Oregon
football program went to work on Monday at a Houston grocery store for $8 an
hour, where he baked bread.
As Willie Lyles finished his shift, he took a large trash bag and filled it
with the unsold, stale bread that was leftover from the weekend. “People
weren’t buying bread on Saturday,” he said, “so the bag was so heavy I
could barely lift it.”
The bag was so big, Lyles needed a shopping cart to carry it. He wheeled the
thing out back, to a garbage dumpster, as store policy mandates. Except,
Lyles broke rules.
“I couldn’t do it,” he said. “I thought about all the homeless people
who go through the dumpster looking for food, and I just set it there beside
the thing, where they could find it.”
This -- Lyles insists – is who he really is.
I haven’t been so sure.
By now, you probably know that Lyles was paid $25,000 by Oregon in 2010. You
may also know that he’s subsequently given an interview to Yahoo Sports in
which he alleged that he was not paid for his scouting services, as Oregon
coach Chip Kelly suggested, rather, for his access and influence with key
recruits such as Lache Seastrunk. And you may know that Lyles has also
admitted that he aided Ducks Heisman candidate LaMichael James in gaining
his college eligibility post-high school, and also, helped orchestrate
Seastrunk’s signing of his national letter of intent with Oregon.
For this, I called Lyles a slimeball.
Also, I questioned his credibility.
Also, I wondered what kind of character would make a living ushering five-
star recruits, many of whom came from single-parent households, to the
doorsteps of salivating college coaches.
“You called me scum,” Lyles said on Monday. “I figure if I can change
your mind, I can change anyone’s mind.”
Lyles told me he spoke for hours with NCAA investigators, who most certainly
will circle back and ask more questions about Lyles dealings with the Ducks
. Lyles said, “I answered the questions they asked me, that was it. I
really felt that, in a sense, I felt like I should help protect (Oregon)
because we have a history.”
What’s changed?
“(Oregon) tried to make me seem incompetent,” Lyles said. “The other
spreadsheet I gave them was a lot more extensive, when they didn’t release
that, it was like, ‘Let’s make it look like Willie didn’t deliver what he
said he was going to deliver.’”
Lyles was referring to how Oregon handled the release of documents, sought
by The Oregonian and other media outlets through public records requests.
The documents were to show what Oregon received as part of a national
recruiting package from Lyles. On June 20, Oregon released 140 recruiting
profiles, of which 134 were from Texas and almost all were outdated. A day
later, the school released the spreadsheets, which covered four states and
were up-to-date.
UO on Friday reiterated that it is cooperating with the NCAA and believes it
's done nothing wrong. Lyles said again Monday that what he provided Oregon
was access, information and influence.
“This is the way recruiting goes,” Lyles said of Seastrunk’s recruitment.
“I knew personal things about the kid. Those small things turn out to be
big things in recruiting. It helps coaches form their approach.”
What kind of food does a recruit like? Who are the influential decision-
makers in the recruit’s household? What kinds of perks does the recruit
respond to?
Lyles said he advised Kelly that Seastrunk’s mother did not want her son to
attend Oregon, and would have to be worked around. “His mother was crazy
with them. Just crazy talk to the (Ducks) coaches. It was unbelievable.”
Also, Lyles told Kelly, Seastrunk loves Air Jordan sneakers.
“He’s a complete Jordan-head,” Lyles said. “That’s one of the big
things he liked. So Oregon had a pair of Jordans for him --- only one of two
pairs ever made.”
Lyles said that he talked “constantly” on the telephone to Kelly, and to
others in the football offices. Telephone records obtained by The Oregonian
support this.
Said Lyles: “I did a lot of work. I felt my service was worth every penny.
I overstepped the line some… helping (Seastrunk) get the (letter of intent)
done was over the line… I didn’t know it was the wrong thing to do. But
it’s not like I wasn’t going to do it. The kid wanted to go to school
there.
“I didn’t want him selling shoes in Foot Locker for the rest of his life.
Did it break NCAA rules? Maybe. I don’t know for sure. Was it immoral? Was
it the wrong thing to do?”
Lyles didn’t answer either question.
Instead, he started talking about what should have been his next $25,000
payment. He said his agreement with Kelly was for multiple years. That he’s
already invoiced the Ducks and provided them with help on the 2012 class
and was assured by Kelly their deal was renewable annually.
“I was told, ‘This year we’re going to have to make sure the paperwork is
in order,’” Lyles said. “My talking (now) has nothing to do with me not
having the money. It was because they made me look like an incompetent jerk
who was trying to swindle money from there.
“If I get the money? If I don’t get the money? At this point, I don’t
care. This isn’t just affecting me in the football world, it’s affecting
me as far as getting regular jobs. When I have kids one day, when they
Google me, I don’t want them to see all this crap about me.”
Lyles said he wants you to know who he really is. That he has younger
brothers, and a sister. That he grew up in Houston, where he played football
as a kid. That he loves history and geography, and is about one year from
his college degree.
Lyles attends church on Sundays. He has good friends. That he’s an optimist
with a “sunny” disposition. Also, he wants you to know when he saw the
Oregon recruiting scandal as breaking news on television, he just sat on his
bed in disbelief, wondering how this all went sideways.
“My father and I have the same name. I hold that in high regard,” he said.
“That’s my role model. That’s the person in my life who has been there
for everything. My dad and I have a special bond. I don’t want to disgrace
the name he gave me.
“Anything else is extra.”
Lyles said he’s willing to fully cooperate with NCAA investigators. Said
Lyles: “What did coach Kelly say to the NCAA? What did he say to the
administration? That’s going to be a key piece of information for them. I
keep things. I don’t throw things away. It bodes well in this circumstance.”
There are critics everywhere, Lyles discovered. Columnists, investigative
television reporters and radio show hosts. Fan message boards. Harassing
telephone calls. People asking him, “Did you get a death threat yet?”
Lyles laughs at that, because he said he’s encountered so many daggers in
unexpected places that he’s gained an appreciation for those who will tell
him directly that they don’t care for him.
“The University of Texas, they hate my guts,” Lyles said. “At least they
tell me they hate me instead of saying one thing about me, then saying
things behind my back.”
Lyles wants everyone to know that he doesn’t just deal in four and five-
star players. That he’s in the business of helping kids get themselves to
college programs, sometimes unknowns headed to small colleges. Frequently,
Lyles said, he worked without compensation.
Said Lyles: “Who do you think got Oregon State on (running back) Storm
Woods?... I gave him to (former Beavers assistant) Reggie Davis. I was the
one dealing with Oregon State. And I gave James Rodgers to Laney College (a
junior college) who gave him to (offensive coordinator) Danny Langsdorf at
Oregon State.”
Lyles said he tried to get the Beavers as a client for a few years, but “
they never purchased the service. That didn’t stop me from getting Reggie
Davis the info on the kid.”
Lyles said Monday that he doesn’t regret helping connect players with
college programs. “I would change how I did business,” he said. “I’d
change it so it was legal how I did it… If I would have thought about it
more, and known the rules better. I’m not blaming it all on Oregon. It’s
on me. I could read it. I’m not just putting it all on them. I could have
done better."
As for his dealings with the Ducks, Lyles said: “Once they’re done with
you, they’re done with you. In retrospect, it seems that coach Kelly really
wanted access, because I don’t know if he respected me as a business
person or scouting service.”
When you talk with Lyles, you understand you're mostly just listening and
interjecting questions that redirect the conversation. He likes to talk. He
laughs, a lot, too. In reporting this column, I spoke with numerous sources,
many of which don't care for Lyles. But along the way, most said something
such as, "If you talk with him for a while, you'll probably like him."
I did.
Lyles is interesting. He's flawed, but trying, like the rest of us. There's
a bit of smooth-talker in him, but you could say the same of most college
coaches. What's true is that Lyles didn't have a clue how to run and
organize a sophisticated business operation, but there's no doubting why the
recruits connect with him and why coaches felt they needed him.
I called him scum when this story broke. I wished him a Happy Fourth of July
four months later.What else do you do with a guy who tells you he's done
wrong, broken rules, been dumb, but wants to clear his name and do better?
The final judgment for Lyles will be based on the life he makes for himself
from here. I agree with Lyles, we should let him define himself, mostly when
he's not worried that we're all watching.
Feels like Kelly and the Ducks football program have big NCAA worries. Lyles
doesn't fit the definition of a scouting service. The university trustees
are culpable here, too. Meanwhile, Lyles is now selling himself to the
public as a guy who has made a pile of mistakes and wants nothing more than
to do the right thing moving forward. He wants sunshine on this whole dark
and ugly Ducks mess.
Said Lyles: “They could have said, ‘We had a relationship, but he didn’t
give us a lot of written information.’ The truth would have made more sense
. The truth would have been more logical.
“If they needed me to be more of a scouting service, I could have done that
. If I needed more written information, I could have done it.”
Just tell the truth.
Ironic, isn't it?
Lyles now offering valuable and future-altering information to Oregon at no
cost. | a*******g
发帖数: 4872 | 2 ft, investigation is endless
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【在 H*****r 的大作中提到】
: http://twitter.com/#!/SPORTSbyBROOKS/status/88278403203088384
: The key figure in the NCAA investigation into the University of Oregon
: football program went to work on Monday at a Houston grocery store for $8 an
: hour, where he baked bread.
: As Willie Lyles finished his shift, he took a large trash bag and filled it
: with the unsold, stale bread that was leftover from the weekend. “People
: weren’t buying bread on Saturday,” he said, “so the bag was so heavy I
: could barely lift it.”
: The bag was so big, Lyles needed a shopping cart to carry it. He wheeled the
: thing out back, to a garbage dumpster, as store policy mandates. Except,
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