USC RB McKnight under investigation... Updated*

[sarge87]

Updated: December 19, 2009, 12:29 PM ET

Report: McKnight under investigation

 

ESPN.com news service

 

USC tailback Joe McKnight has been driving a 2006 Land Rover owned by a Santa Monica, Calif., businessman, the Los Angeles Times reported on Friday.

 

USC is investigating McKnight's use of the vehicle to find out if it is in violation NCAA rules. It is against NCAA rules for athletes to accept benefits from agents or marketing representatives, or to accept "extra benefits" based on their ability.

 

USC running back Joe McKnight has been seen driving an SUV registered to a California businessman, a report said.

 

The Times reported McKnight has been seen driving the SUV, which the California Department of Motor Vehicles says is registered to Scott Schenter.

 

Schenter, 47, works in marketing and owns a company that registered a Web site called 4joemcknight.com, according to the newspaper.

 

Schenter's wife, Dawn, told the Times he was in South Africa. Reached by e-mail, Schenter didn't respond to a list of questions sent by the newspaper, according to the report.

 

If McKnight is in violation of NCAA rules, it could affect his eligibility. USC plays Boston College in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 26 in San Francisco.

 

USC is already being investigated by the NCAA and Pac-10 regarding accusations that running back Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo received improper benefits during their time at the school.

 

McKnight is the Trojans' leading rusher with 1,014 yards this season.

 

"Compliance has this in a full review and so we'll have to wait and see what happens with that," coach Pete Carroll said. "I really can't tell you anything. I don't know anything more than that."

 

McKnight told the Times on Wednesday he has ridden in the Land Rover but never driven it. McKnight's girlfriend, Johana Michelle Beltran, works as a secretary for Schenter, he said.

 

"I know I can't drive cars I'm not supposed to," McKnight said. "If somebody said they spotted me driving, they're seeing wrong. I don't even have the keys."

 

McKnight and Beltran are the parents of a 10-month-old son, Jaiden. McKnight told the Times the Land Rover belonged to "my baby mama's boss."

 

"I never talk to her about it," he said of the SUV. "I just see it whenever my girlfriend's around with my kid. I ask no questions. I just do what I got to do."

 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Update 12/20/09*

McKnight's girlfriend 'makes payments'

 

ESPN.com news service

 

The owner of the SUV that USC Trojans running back Joe McKnight has been seen driving says it was bought for the junior's girlfriend as a favor.

 

In e-mails to the Los Angeles Times and Los Angeles Daily News, Scott Schenter, a Santa Monica, Calif., businessman, said the car is driven by Johana Michelle Beltran -- McKnight's girlfriend -- and that he helped purchase the Land Rover because Beltran's family had trouble qualifying for a loan.

 

 

Contrary to a reporter's firsthand account, USC's Joe McKnight has denied driving an SUV owned by a California businessman.

 

"It is her car," Schenter wrote. "She makes the payments and she is responsible for insurance. The payments are a little over $500/month [not a big amount]."

 

McKnight has denied driving the car, but the Los Angeles Times said in a story that one of its reporters has seen USC's leading rusher driving the SUV several times.

 

The Times first reported the story Friday night.

 

Schenter also said he is a University of Washington fan who has "nothing to do with agents, marketing players or representing athletes" despite his ownership of the Web domain www.4joemcknight.com, which he says has not been renewed.

 

"I own so many Web site domains that I only purchased www.4joemcknight.com [didn't renew] because I thought it was clever along with the many other ones I own/owned," Schenter wrote in the e-mails.

 

Schenter said a company he founded in May 2008, USC Marketing, stood for for "United States China Marketing," and that despite being an employee for the Los Angeles County's Assessor's office, he would "rather be known for my expertise in marketing and finance ventures."

 

USC, already under review by the NCAA and Pac-10 regarding accusations that running back Reggie Bush and basketball star O.J. Mayo received improper benefits during their time at the school, is investigating McKnight's use of the vehicle.

 

If McKnight is in violation of NCAA rules, it could affect his eligibility. It is against NCAA rules for athletes to accept benefits from agents or marketing representatives, or to accept "extra benefits" based on their ability.

 

Despite being in attendance for a USC men's basketball game against Tennessee in Los Angeles on Saturday night, athletic director Mike Garrett was not made available to local reporters.

 

"I read the letter [by Schenter] and found it interesting," said a statement from Garrett, read by a Trojans spokesman to the reporters at halftime as Garrett sat next to him. "Our compliance people are handling the matter. I have nothing more to say."

 

USC plays Boston College in the Emerald Bowl on Dec. 26 in San Francisco.

 

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[sarge87]

Schenter, 47, works in marketing and owns a company that registered a Web site called 4joemcknight.com, according to the newspaper.

"I own so many Web site domains that I only purchased www.4joemcknight.com [didn't renew] because I thought it was clever along with the many other ones I own/owned," Schenter wrote in the e-mails.

Nothing here to see.....move along.

[sarge87]

bump

[WVhuskerXX]

USC's cheating program =

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

They've uncovered footage of him taking the Land Rover for a spin...

 

[Blackshirtsguru]

If the past has told us anything....The USC football program will not get into any trouble. If they can buy Reggie Busch's family a home, they can get away with McKnight being provided a car.

[sarge87]

If the past has told us anything....The USC football program will not get into any trouble. If they can buy Reggie Busch's family a home, they can get away with McKnight being provided a car.

I totally agree.

[WVhuskerXX]

that video is hilarious

[huzkerbob]

When is USC going to have to accept some real consequences for there out of control athletes? Seriously, the Trojans are the definition of "lack of institutional control". This is the only program that continues to blatantly break the NCAA rules and receive NO repercussions what so ever. None! Not even one of the meaningless slaps on the wrist the NCAA is famous for.

 

Enough is enough! The NCAA needs to grow some balls and come down on USC and Carrol's team HARD! This bulls@#t has to end now, because it's gone on way too long!

[NoKoolAidForME]

When is USC going to have to accept some real consequences for there out of control athletes? Seriously, the Trojans are the definition of "lack of institutional control". This is the only program that continues to blatantly break the NCAA rules and receive NO repercussions what so ever. None! Not even one of the meaningless slaps on the wrist the NCAA is famous for.

 

Enough is enough! The NCAA needs to grow some balls and come down on USC and Carrol's team HARD! This bulls@#t has to end now, because it's gone on way too long!

Sooner or later some of the other major programs are going to start publicly start paying there players. Then I would love to see what there reaction would be. If they are going to selectively hand out punishment we are going to have the Southwest conference all over again.

[mmmtodd]

Carroll being hung out to dry by the USC athletic director, per LA Times article

 

Stinky Linky

 

Where's Mike Garrett?

 

Every time I run into the USC athletic director he takes off running, only now beginning to understand why -- obviously the administrator in training for the next controversy to plague his athletic department.

 

Former USC basketball coach Tim Floyd told The Times recently Garrett abandoned him when Floyd had his problems.

 

"Mike's reputation took precedence," Floyd said. "All loyalty, all support stopped."

 

Here we go again, Pete Carroll now on the spot, the perception nationally the Trojans' football program is out of control, if not in need of an NCAA spanking, and Garrett is nowhere to be found to assist the guy who saved his career.

 

Garrett owes every day on the job, every penny earned to Carroll after stumbling across him almost a decade ago and hiring him to take the job Mike Riley, Dennis Erickson and Mike Bellotti turned down.

 

And now, as wacky as it is to even suggest, Carroll needs Garrett to buy him some time to regroup.

 

It has been a terrible year for Carroll, starting with the embarrassing way he reacted to Mark Sanchez's decision to turn pro knowing more than anyone he'd be left without a solid quarterback -- and leading all the way up to this week and the Joe McKnight affair and three players declared academically ineligible.

 

is it just me, or is that article funky? like, grammatically and poorly written? it just seems off somehow.