NCAA fines Renardo Sidney, rules him ineligible - latimes.com

Oh I love it when a cheater gets caught. I don't usually have a lot of props for u$c but in this case, I gotta give them some thumb's up. They smelled a rat and did the right thing, too bad they were about a year behind, otherwise their basketball team might be gearing up for the PAC-10 Tournament instead of ending their season today.

If you're not familiar with the story, about a year ago or so, Renardo Sidney, a transfer student who played basketball for two years at Fairfax High, originally was going to sign at USC. He threw this big press conference to announce his signing, but then all of a sudden, his Letter of Intent was withdrawn and he was off to Mississippi State.

Before long there were murmurs about how his family could afford to live in Fairfax's enrollment area, not to mention where the family's income was coming from. He had originally expressed interest in playing at UCLA, but the Bruins were already wary of the kid and Coach Ben Howland's recruiting staff steered clear of him as soon as they got wind of the questions about the family income.

Eventually he landed at Mississippi State, where he grew up, but even then, the family played fast and loose with the investigation. And now, they're on the hook for almost $12,000 for all of the benefits this kid got.

Dad has been railing against what he calls, "carpet bagger athletes," the ones who go from school to school to showcase their skills rather than get an education. He especially likes to refer to those private schools like Oaks Christian and Mater Dei as "factory schools," where they churn out students who showcase their athletic skills rather than prepare them for life after those careers are over.

It's nice to see one of these phonies finally go down for a change. And props to the reporter of the series, Lance Pugmire, a former colleague of mine, who's been on the case since the start.


NCAA fines Renardo Sidney, rules him ineligible - latimes.com