Ex-Vols aide funded airfare payment for Seastrunk

Discussion in 'VOLuminous' started by GoVols, Sep 26, 2011.

  1. GoVols

    GoVols Member

    Ex-Vols aide funded airfare payment for Seastrunk - College Football - Rivals.com

    An assistant coach during Lane Kiffin’s tenure at the University of Tennessee wired $1,500 to a talent scout in July 2009, funding the airfare for an unofficial recruiting trip by then five-star prospect Lache Seastrunk and his mother, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

    In an apparent NCAA violation, then-Volunteers secondary coach Willie Mack Garza sent the money to one-time scout Will Lyles, who had paid for plane tickets for Seastrunk and his mother Evelyn. Garza, who joined Kiffin’s staff at USC in 2010, stepped down from his position with the Trojans in September citing “some personal issues unrelated to USC that I need to address.” His resignation came shortly after Lyles informed NCAA investigators in August of the transaction. Lyles said NCAA investigators were conducting a wide-ranging look into Tennessee recruiting practices.

    Houston-based Lyles was a talent scout and mentor to several area players, including Seastrunk of Temple, Texas, in the central part of the state. Lyles said he told the NCAA he organized and paid for Seastrunk and his mother to travel to Knoxville June 20-21, 2009 for an unofficial visit. Lyles said he was reimbursed via MoneyGram by Garza on July 5. Lyles said he provided the NCAA receipts for the plane tickets and a hand-written MoneyGram receipt.

    Yahoo! Sports, with Lyles’ cooperation, requested and received an independent receipt of the transaction directly from MoneyGram International. Under transaction history request, the receipt lists “Willie Garza” as the “sender” and “Will Lyles” as the “receiver” of $1,500. An additional $76 processing fee was charged to Garza.

    When reached by cell phone, Garza declined comment. USC sports information director Tim Tessalone declined to comment. The NCAA declined comment, citing its policy of not discussing potential cases.

    “We are aware of the situation as is the conference office,” Tennessee associate athletic director for communications Jimmy Stanton said. “We’ve been verbally contacted by the NCAA enforcement staff regarding a recruiting issue in 2009 related to the former coaching staff and a student-athlete who never attended Tennessee.”

    Evelyn Seastrunk acknowledged she and her son made the trip to Knoxville but declined comment on who paid for the plane tickets or where they stayed during the trip.

    “I’m so sick and tired of this ‘Willie Lyles said this and Willie Lyles said that,’” Evelyn Seastrunk said. “I don’t care what Willie Lyles says. I don’t care as long as my son is OK.

    “Whatever undercover dirty stuff that they’re doing, I’m pretty sure that Willie Lyles is not the only person. He’s just the only one that’s been caught. This is something that they’ve been doing forever.”

    While colleges are allowed to pay airfare for recruits during “official” visits, they are prohibited from doing so prior to the first day of a player’s senior academic year. Seastrunk, who had just completed his junior year at Temple (Texas) High School, was thus responsible for transportation costs for any “unofficial visit” as the June 2009 trip would be classified.

    Seastrunk never took an official visit to Tennessee and signed with the University of Oregon in February 2010. After one season in Eugene he transferred to Baylor in August of 2011 where he is currently sitting out.

    An NCAA finding of a major violation would be particularly troubling for Tennessee. The Volunteers athletic program was cited in August for “failure to monitor” when its men’s basketball program was placed on two years probation for a variety of major infractions under former coach Bruce Pearl.

    The school could be deemed a “repeat offender,” which would call for additional and stiffer sanctions.

    Lyles spoke with the NCAA on Aug. 30 in Los Angeles. Two days later Garza, who had followed Kiffin in 2010 to the University of Southern California, resigned abruptly from the Trojans’ staff.

    Lyles told Yahoo! Sports what he explained the NCAA: that Garza set up Seastrunk’s June 2009 unofficial visit through him, that Lyles paid $1,446.80 for the initial airline tickets for Lache and his mother to fly from Waco, Texas to Knoxville, Tenn., and that Garza later wired the money to Lyles.

    Lyles said he only agreed to speak to NCAA investigators if they guaranteed Seastrunk immunity from any penalties associated with this incident. Lyles said immunity was granted on the condition that both he and Seastrunk were completely honest and forthcoming (Lyles said Seastrunk has already spoken to the NCAA). He said the NCAA was already investigating Tennessee’s recruiting practices.

    “I wanted to make sure Lache would be fine, this isn’t about him,” said Lyles, who maintains a close relationship with the player. “It’s the NCAA’s rules and the schools not following them. During our meeting it became clear the NCAA already had knowledge of what was going on at Tennessee.”

    Lyles, now 32, was employed at the time by Elite Scouting Services, based in Florida. Lyles had fashioned a career as both a scout who could inform college coaches about talent while also serving as a mentor and personal trainer to Texas high school players. He developed close relationships with a number of Lone Star State players, including Seastrunk and Oregon All-America running back LaMichael James, a native of Texarkana.

    In January of 2009, he started his own company, Complete Scouting Service. He made headlines earlier this year when it was revealed he’d received a $25,000 payment from the University of Oregon for his national recruiting package. The NCAA is currently investigating both Oregon and LSU, another Lyles’ client, for their ties to the scout.

    Lyles said he had never met Garza until the spring of 2009 when the recruiter called about Seastrunk, then one of the most coveted running backs in the country.

    “[Garza called] and he says ‘Hey, how are you doing. I’m Coach Garza. I recruit the state of Texas for Tennessee. We need to talk about Lache Seastrunk getting here on an unofficial visit,’” Lyles said. “And I said ‘OK.’ I told them that I would let Evelyn [Seastrunk] know. When I told her about it, she said ‘That’s cool.’”

    Lyles said he worked with the Seastrunks and Garza to find an agreeable date. He bought the tickets through Expedia, charging $1,446.80 to his Visa debit card. He said the price was high because it was a last-minute fare, due to uncertainty over the travel availability of the Seastrunks. The tickets were purchased June 19 for a June 20 departure.

    After the visit, Lyles said Garza called to discuss reimbursement.

    “Coach Garza said, ‘How do you want me to give the money to you,’” Lyles said. “I said, ‘You can send it Western Union or MoneyGram.’ … I had already come out of my pocket for over $1,400 for plane tickets.”

    On July 5, his money came in. The MoneyGram was sent from a location in Lancaster, Texas, a Dallas suburb. Lyles said he didn’t know why it came from Lancaster. Garza is a native Texan who played at the University of Texas from 1988-92 and as a coach has actively recruited the state for years.

    Lyles acknowledged he kept the remaining $53.20.

    Lyles said Tennessee reimbursing a third party for the cost of an unofficial recruiting visit is clearly against NCAA rules. But the scout said the practice isn’t uncommon in college football. Lyles said coaches often seek someone with the financial means to pay the initial cost of the trip. He declined to cite other schools that engaged in the practice or detail any of his other testimony to NCAA investigators.
     
  2. GoVols

    GoVols Member

    I can't believe this is happening again.
     
  3. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    What a [uck fay]ing joke:

    Lyles said he only agreed to speak to NCAA investigators if they guaranteed Seastrunk immunity from any penalties associated with this incident. Lyles said immunity was granted on the condition that both he and Seastrunk were completely honest and forthcoming (Lyles said Seastrunk has already spoken to the NCAA). He said the NCAA was already investigating Tennessee’s recruiting practices.

    “I wanted to make sure Lache would be fine, this isn’t about him,” said Lyles, who maintains a close relationship with the player. “It’s the NCAA’s rules and the schools not following them. During our meeting it became clear the NCAA already had knowledge of what was going on at Tennessee.”
     
  4. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    Seems like the NCAA dug forever trying to find out shit about the hostess issue and couldn't. So, hopefully these guys know how to cover their tracks. I'm hoping the only real damning evidence is the testimony of this scumbag. Can they really prove the moneygram was for airfare? And why would Garza call Lyles to talk about giving Lyles money? Wouldn't that go the other way around?
     
  5. TennTradition

    TennTradition Super Moderator

    It was really sweet of him to speak about Tennessee while withholding details about other programs...Dooley must have not been willing to pay him hush money (slight sarcasm)

     
  6. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    Seriously, why does he drag our name through the mud and then take the "high" road with everyone else?
     
  7. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    Lane Kiffin is the gift that keeps on giving.
     
  8. JT5

    JT5 Super Moderator

    An NCAA finding of a major violation would be particularly troubling for Tennessee. The Volunteers athletic program was cited in August for “failure to monitor” when its men’s basketball program was placed on two years probation for a variety of major infractions under former coach Bruce Pearl.

    The school could be deemed a “repeat offender,” which would call for additional and stiffer sanctions.




    How could this classify as a 'repeat offender' issue if it occurred in 2009?
     
  9. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    I honestly think this was Garza trying to be flashy for Kiffin, and show he can bring in the big boys. Doubt that makes a bit of difference, but whatever. Not quite sure how that is repeat offender, either.
     
  10. TennTradition

    TennTradition Super Moderator

    I don't see why this major violation, which was committed during the same period as the others, would deem repeat offender, or affect the failure to monitor which was from basketball.
     
  11. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain


    It's simple. Rivals hates us. They still won't give Justin Worley his fourth star, if you remember.
     
  12. GoVols

    GoVols Member

    He have have dragged a handful of programs through the mud. We don't know.
     
  13. TennTradition

    TennTradition Super Moderator

    Not publicly. The point is why talk to Rivals about UT and not the others?
     
  14. volfanjo

    volfanjo Chieftain

    Seriously though, I drove myself crazy for two years worrying about this stuff. I'm going to act like the NCAA already has seen this, dealt with it in Indianapolis, and have moved on.

    I will put this in your ear though: Wasn't Willie Mack Justin Hunter's lead recruiter, secured the commitment and then bolted for USC?
     
  15. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    Great ammo for our competitors to use against us on the recruiting trail.
     
  16. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    Dooley going to be hot. Just when he thought he could tell recruits all that shit was behind us... Hopefully this just goes away, and everyone says we worked this out already.
     
  17. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    Lyles pisses me off more than anything. What a scumbag. "Not my fault I allowed this guy to break the rules. I'm just an honest businessman."
     
  18. kptvol

    kptvol Super Moderator

    It's blatantly ridiculous. The article really should emphasize the hypocrisy.
     
  19. fl0at_

    fl0at_ Humorless, asinine, joyless pr*ck

    Yahoo! Sports is just as self-serving. They've gained notoriety because of their scandal reporting. Any attempt to spin any article and they'll do it in a heart beat. I would not be surprised at all if Yahoo! Sports didn't report other schools, simply because they're sitting on the other schools so they can release yet another "story" in a few months.

    And you can bet they are paying Lyles to sling mud with anything he has that isn't purely anecdotal.
     
  20. Smowkee

    Smowkee New Member

    Amazing. Thank God Kiffin is gone. Dooley won't put up with this kind of shit. I just hope he gets to stay long enough to right the ship.
     

Share This Page