Pete Thamel of the NEW YORK TIMES reports Thursday on Twitter that he has, “on-record confirmation the NCAA is investigating the recruitment of Cameron Newton.”
More from Thamel on Twitter.com today:
John Bond, a former Mississippi State quarterback said today that “a payment had to be made” for Newton to play there. Miss State declined.
Bond spoke to the NCAA and said “he acted entirely appropriately throughout this matter.”
A former teammate of Bond’s at Mississippi State reportedly “contacted him soon after Newton’s official visit to Mississippi State during the Ole Miss game in December, and said he was representing Newton.“
Bond:
“He said it would take some cash to get Cam. I called our athletic director, Greg Byrne, and he took it from there. That was pretty much it.
“I have no agenda other than protecting Mississippi State. We’ve done what we were supposed to do from the very beginning. Mississippi State has done nothing wrong, and I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“It’s been handed off to the NCAA, and it’s in their hands now. I don’t know what happened at Auburn. I don’t know why he went to Auburn. That’s not my concern. My concern is Mississippi State and making sure this doesn’t cause us any trouble.”
ESPN reports the former teammate who contacted Bond was Kenny Rogers, who played at Mississippi State from 1982-85.
The NCAA reportedly has contacted the father of Newton, the Rev. Cecil Newton, and asked for his bank records. There has reportedly been speculation that Auburn may have provided money to the Newton family in order to assist in the renovation of Rev. Newton’s church in Newnan, Georgia.
Though he did confirm talking to Rogers on several occasions, Rev. Newton denied allegations that he was involved in obtaining money during his son’s recruitment:
“If Rogers tried to solicit money from Mississippi State, he did it on his own, without our knowledge. I’m just trying to protect my son’s interests, because he’s fought very hard to get back where he is. It’s a hell of a fight when people give up on you and think they’ll never see you or hear from you again.”
When contacted, Auburn assistant athletic director, media relations Kirk Sampson said:
“We have been made aware of the allegation. Unfortunately, we cannot comment at this time. However, Cam Newton is eligible to play football at Auburn.”
The NCAA does not comment on investigations, but the SEC did confirm that it has been party to “information” involving the Newton allegation.
SEC associate commissioner Greg Sankey, who oversees conference compliance, said the league received “specific information” regarding the Newton allegation in late July of this year.
“When we get information, we share it with the institution when it is involved,” Sankey said.
Without specifically addressing the initial call from Mississippi State, which came several months earlier, Sankey said what the SEC originally was told about the allegation was “limited information.”
“We don’t deal in rumor and innuendo,” Sankey said. “We deal in facts.”
He said the SEC is not an investigative body, adding that it can share information with NCAA enforcement as needed. He declined to say whether the Newton allegation was shared with the NCAA.
More on this story as it develops.
5:37 pm on November 4th, 2010
Way to go Thamel you LOSER. Breaking news on something that happened and was reported 10 months ago and the NCAA has been looking into for at least 2 months now. Hardly breaking news. Thamel was all in a tizzy last year reporting about Kiffin and the Vols using their “Hostesses” in inappropriate ways to recruit. Not much came of that either. Go away Thamel. The NYT is not a tabloid but your reporting is.
6:40 pm on November 4th, 2010
The Source is a washed up QB whose company Eutaw Construction is usually in the new for unsavory acts.
PULA, along with Eutaw Construction Company, Inc., entered a $40,000 settlement with EPA for stormwater violations at its construction site known as Blue Springs Rail Spur. And PULA, along with L&T Construction, Inc., entered a separate $30,000 settlement with EPA for stormwater violations at its construction site known as Blue Springs North Loop Interchange.
Both settlements stem from violations that were observed by representatives from EPA and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality during May 2009 inspections of the construction sites. EPA issued Administrative Orders in October 2009 requiring the violators to revise their Notices of Intent for Permit coverage, modify their Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans, institute inspection programs, and address areas of potential discharges. The companies have complied with EPA’s enforcement order
7:57 pm on November 4th, 2010
he did
9:35 pm on November 4th, 2010
I am an auburn fan and look on this site quiet a bit but definitly dont feel like this is true. I have been waiting til you publish something bad on one of my teams before I said anything…but why in the hell would you report on this or anything else of that matter but not print one thing on brett favre and jenn sterger??? Come on man that is ridiculous! This kind of site feeds off of that. Is sterger sucking your cock or are you sucking bretts? Please tell since your job is to report the news…not just the ones that you dont have alliegences to!!!
6:00 am on November 5th, 2010
I’m a Bama fan, and believe it or not I would like to see AUB do well and have one hell of a finish come Nov. 26
I think AUB may have been approached by this unsavory character, but I find it hard to believe that AUB would stoop to his demands and pay $200,000 for Cam’s services.
like BenHakata said, Thamel jumped on a story that happened some time ago AND NCAA has looked into with AUB! he’s eligible to play, so let him play.
I’d be VERY surprised if anything came about because of this. schools have got to know the NCAA would track this stuff down, cause people can’t keep their mouth shuts, especially in the age of the internet.
7:25 am on November 5th, 2010
is this even news? I mean, we’re talking about the SEC here…
9:00 am on November 5th, 2010
Haha!!! Auburn fans are flipping out, I love it! They are scrambling, trying to go on the offensive. They dont know what else to do.
9:21 am on November 5th, 2010
guilty.
9:23 am on November 5th, 2010
so let me get this straight….AU could go undefeated for the 3rd time with nothing to show for it after those wins get vacated. ouch.
12:15 pm on November 5th, 2010
I don’t understand why this is news two months later. For some reason, it doesn’t get reported until Auburn is doing well and let’s just throw some news out there to distract them. You’ll have to do better than that. I don’t think I’ll be reading this newsletter anymore. Find a real story. Every school around is being investigated for something. Perhaps, the NCAA needs to hire some more people. This would be good news for all those people who have lost jobs.
12:17 pm on November 5th, 2010
I don’t understand why this is news two months later. For some reason, it doesn’t get reported until Auburn is doing well and let’s just throw some news out there to distract them. You’ll have to do better than that. I don’t think I’ll be reading this newsletter anymore. Find a real story. Every school around is being investigated for something. Perhaps, the NCAA needs to hire some more people. This would be good news for all those people who have lost jobs.
And as I just tried to submit this, I got a message back saying this was a duplicate comment and that it looked like I’d already said that. Well, since I’ve never in my life commented on this site, I can tell you this site is only going to print news that gets them readers and something that makes them look good. So let’s submit it again and see if I get the same message, and since I just came back and added on this second paragraph three seconds later, we’ll see how legit this site is.
12:19 pm on November 5th, 2010
I don’t understand why this is news two months later. For some reason, it doesn’t get reported until Auburn is doing well and let’s just throw some news out there to distract them. You’ll have to do better than that. I don’t think I’ll be reading this newsletter anymore. Find a real story. Every school around is being investigated for something. Perhaps, the NCAA needs to hire some more people. This would be good news for all those people who have lost jobs.
And as I just tried to submit this, I got a message back saying this was a duplicate comment and that it looked like I’d already
said that. Well, since I’ve never in my life commented on this site, I can tell you this site is only going to print news that gets them readers and something that makes them look good. So let’s submit it again and see if I get the same message, and since I just came back and added on this second paragraph three seconds later, we’ll see how legit this site is.
Third paragraph, I just got the same message saying duplicate comment. All right. So you aren’t going to let me post my thoughts. Fine. I’m going to make certain now that I post just exactly what this site is about and how you won’t allow a legitimate comment when it’s not vulgar, untrue, or just plain makes commen sense. Here goes again!
12:37 pm on November 5th, 2010
Couldn’t expect any less from the NY Times, or ESPN.. Not very many people like Auburn.. TO BE AN ABURN FAN TAKES CLASS… We love our Tigers, and whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty.. Sure do hope the Newton Family can make money off of this allegation,, they deserve it!!!!
Haha!!! Auburn fans are flipping out, I love it! They are scrambling, trying to go on the offensive. They dont know what else to do. ( John, this is exactly what I mean about UNCLASSY people)))… Real mature there!!! WAR EAGLE, AND THE AUBURN FAMILY SUPPORTS CAM!!!!
2:28 pm on November 5th, 2010
I hope he gets suspended because auburn is nothing with out him
12:46 pm on November 6th, 2010
It is very difficult to go from High School to the Pros, so why would Newton jeopardize a lucrative career with something like this? It just doesn’t make sense. I don’t pay much attention to rumors. I will forrn an opinion after the NCAA finishes their investigation. Go VOLS!!!