Reggie Bush's family flee house

[NUpolo8]

THis is on Yahoo Sports. This is now the third USC star to have suspect issues swirling around him.

 

Yahoo! Sports report: Reggie Bush's family home

Yahoo! Sports report: Reggie Bush's family home

 

By Charles Robinson, Yahoo! Sports

April 23, 2006

 

 

 

 

SPRING VALLEY, Calif. – In this sprawling hilltop community with a breathtaking view of Sweetwater Lake, it was no secret who lived in the 3,000-square-foot house at the corner of Apple Street and Luther Avenue.

 

That home, residents would tell you, was where Reggie Bush's family lived.

 

That is, until this weekend, when the family abruptly packed up and vacated the residence – less than 24 hours after Yahoo! Sports approached Bush's mother about information linking the property to Michael Michaels, a man who is alleged to have tried to play a role in steering Bush toward an agent and who also has ties to a sports marketing company.

 

Days before Bush is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, unanswered questions about the residence and how his mother, stepfather and brother came to live in it within the last year have prompted the University of Southern California to refer the matter to the Pacific-10 Conference for an investigation.

 

NCAA statutes prohibit student-athletes or their families from receiving extra benefits from professional sports agents, marketing companies or their representatives. A breach of these statutes could result in an athlete being ruled ineligible, and games in which they played could be forfeited.

 

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USC finished 12-1 last season, its 35-game winning streak and national championship bid both ending with a loss in the Rose Bowl to Texas. Bush, a junior running back, won the Heisman Trophy and elected to skip his senior season and turn pro in January.

 

In response to reporters' questions about the matter late last week, USC athletic department officials said they would look into it.

 

"Rather than jumping to conclusions, we need to determine the facts before commenting on this report," Trojans athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement released by the school on Friday. "We have asked the Pac-10 to look into this."

 

State records show the Apple Street home was built in late 2004 and early 2005, then purchased by Michaels on March 29, 2005 for $757,500. Around that time, neighbors say Bush's family moved in. Whether they had visited the house while it was being built is unknown, but there is an inscription in one of the cement slabs in the driveway reading "The Griffins '05."

 

Michaels is the only person who has been listed on the deed to the home.

 

Bush's mother, Denise Griffin, was approached in the driveway of the house on Thursday, but declined to comment.

 

"I have absolutely nothing to say," Griffin said when asked about ownership of the property, which is where Bush's mother, stepfather LaMar and brother Jovan lived during USC's 2005 season.

 

Before moving to the house on Apple Lane, Bush's family was listed as living in an apartment elsewhere in Spring Valley, a community located about 13 miles east of San Diego.

 

At some point after Bush's family moved into the residence, Michaels and an associate named Lloyd Lake are said to have contacted San Diego-based sports agent David Caravantes and offered to facilitate Bush's recruitment. A source with intimate knowledge of the meeting said it took place during the 2005 college football season and that Michaels was looking for a local agent to handle the contract negotiations for players he intended to sign to his marketing firm.

 

Michaels and Lake told Caravantes they were planning to start a sports marketing agency with Bush as their anchor client. It was also during this meeting that Michaels and Lake mentioned the potential name of the agency: New Era Sports & Entertainment.

 

The pitch to Caravantes was said to have been simple: He would be Bush's agent and Michaels' marketing creation would handle the promotion of the USC star. At some point after pitching this idea, Michaels informed Caravantes that Bush's family was living in a home Michaels owned. Caravantes isn't believed to have met with Bush and was never considered to be in the mix before the USC star hired Reebok adviser Mike Ornstein and agent Joel Segal of Worldwide Football Inc. as his representatives.

 

Repeated attempts to reach Segal and Bush were unsuccessful.

 

While it's unclear what official role Michaels played in New Era Sports, indications are that the company barely got off the ground – if at all. According to corporation filings in California, paperwork for New Era Sports & Entertainment was drawn up on Nov. 23, 2005, and records list the business address in Los Angeles under an attorney named Phillip M. Smith Jr.

 

Contacted late last week, Smith Jr. refused to talk about New Era Sports – even declining to give public details such as a phone number for the company, where the New Era offices were located or who was serving as the company's current president or manager.

 

Asked why he wouldn't provide such information, Smith ended the brief telephone conversation, saying, "That's really not an issue that I want to deal with." He has failed to return multiple follow-up messages left at his office.

 

Further attempts to identify New Era produced a single web page with a company logo (http://newerasports.tv/) that contains no active links to indicate where New Era is located, what services are provided or how the company could be contacted. Searches also produced the internet blogs of three self-proclaimed employees of New Era Sports. One such blog included the company logo of New Era and pictures of several NFL players. That blog was taken down shortly after Yahoo! Sports obtained a hard-copy of the page.

 

Contacted about his alleged meeting with Michaels, Caravantes declined to comment.

 

Michaels – who is a member of the Sycuan Indian Tribe and works as a business development officer for the tribe's development corporation – failed to return multiple phone calls and was unavailable when Yahoo! Sports visited his home on three occasions this weekend.

 

The Sycuan tribe, which owns a casino and resort and is engaged in a number of business enterprises in the San Diego area, denied any knowledge of Michaels' relationship with the Bush family.

 

"The tribe is not aware of his involvement," said spokesman Adam Day, who had been approved to speak for the Sycuan's tribal government. "Any involvement that he has in this situation is his personal involvement. It has no connection or correlation to the tribe, its businesses or Mike's employment by the tribal development corporation.

 

"What tribal members do on their own time is their own business. It's not the business of the tribe."

 

Back at the house on Apple Street on Saturday afternoon, the moving trucks had come and gone. A flier offering cleaning services for movers was hung on the front door, and all the shades had been drawn shut. Through a garage window, only a few empty cardboard boxes and straggling trinkets were visible.

 

Across the street, neighbor Grant Sitton could only shrug.

 

"I don't know, I guess it didn't work out," Sitton said. "Oh well. They have a big payday coming next week anyway."

 

 

Charles Robinson

[chad1971]

It was on the local news in LA this morning - The evidence looks pretty incriminating, If he's found guilty - The NCAA would make USC list in the record books their 12 wins as forefit's and maybe return a portion of the BCS bowl money they recieved for playing in the Rose Bowl. WTF is wrong with people? In todays world you can find out just about anything.

[skersfan]

I heard on the news last nite that Reggie Bush is under investigation for receiving gifts. IE the house his parents lived in while he played at SC. SC could end up losing a bunch of games if this proves true. The family moved out of the house over the weekend after the investigation was leaked.

 

I do not have any links as I heard it on TV.

 

Anyone else heard anything about it?

[chad1971]

Look in the MORE SPORTS section.

[skersfan]

Sorry,

 

I normally only read this thread. Thought it was funny there was no mention. of it.

[farmerscarlet]

I heard that it is so serious that they might make USC for fit every game he played in. But that is just what I heard.

[Husker IN Hawaii]

Its too late for that i dont think they can do that. But if it comes true there will be some serious explaining to do by USC.

[skersfan]

The coment on the news last nite was that SC may lose some of the games he played in. NCAA can take away wins for supposed infractions. It will have no affect on their previous NC seasons but will affect last year if it gets to that.

[Foppa]

Its too late for that i dont think they can do that. But if it comes true there will be some serious explaining to do by USC.

Ask the "The Ohio State University" basketball team if the NCAA can do something like that. USC may take a huge hit on this.

[Redman]

Here are some links:

 

My Webpage

 

My Webpage

 

Notice in this one that they can't let the Lawrence Philips case go. So many teams have had infractions, but thay have to keep bringing this up. I guess both where part of National CHampionship teams.

 

My Webpage

 

My Webpage

[BigWillie]

This wouldn't be hard to find out.

 

When you see a family moving into a $750k house, not paying anything, and having a sports marketing agents name on the lease, I think it almost explains itself.

 

BTW, Vince Young may be looking at this smiling. He very well could still get that Heisman Trophy.

[Foppa]

Wow. I hope that this tells athletic depts. everywhere that high profile players are only looking out for themselves, and nothing else. RB probably just took a big dookie on his alma mater.

 

And given the amount of $$$ he's about to get, do you think he really cares? Of course not.

 

It's no wonder everyone was up in arms over Crouch's sandwich-gate. Get in the limelight, and everyone watches your every move.

 

This, of course, is much different. USC better hope that they can cover Reggie's tracks in the wake of one of their other former stars' ability to do the same post-USC... O.J. Simpson.

[Foppa]

Updated: April 24, 2006, 3:43 PM ET

USC asks Pac-10 to eye Bush family, house reportESPN.com news services

 

 

LOS ANGELES -- An attorney representing Reggie Bush says that Bush had no knowledge of an agreement between his parents and San Diego businessman Michael Michaels, the man who owned a $750,000 home the Bush family lived in for the past year.

 

Could Bush lose his Heisman?

The director of the Heisman Trophy Trust told ESPN's Joe Schad on Monday that he will reach out to board members to determine the potential ramifications of an investigation involving 2005 winner Reggie Bush.

"We're doing some soul searching ourselves right now," Rob Whalen said. "To the best of my knowledge no one has ever had a Heisman Trophy revoked."

 

Whalen said he's already begun to receive e-mails from Texas fans who believe runner up Vince Young should now receive the trophy.

 

"Clearly that's premature," Whalen said. "Let's see what happens and how this plays out."

 

The official Heisman ballot includes this wording: "In order that there will be no misunderstanding regarding the eligibility of a candidate, the recepient of the award MUST be a bonafide student of an accredited university. The recepient must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA student."

 

• Schad on Reggie Bush situation

 

 

"At this point, I'm not going to get into the particulars of the transactions between the family and Mr. Michaels," David Cornwell told ESPN's Joe Schad. "It is inapppropriate to presume that the Griffins did anything wrong."

 

The family -- Bush's mother Denise Griffin, stepfather LaMar Griffin and brother Jovan Griffin -- moved out of the house after questions over its ownership arose. Reporters from several news organizations visited the house on Thursday.

 

The Pac-10 said Sunday it will investigate the reported connection between Bush's family and Michaels, who sought to market the Southern California star tailback.

 

At issue is the San Diego-area home's connection with Michaels, who reportedly attempted to steer Bush toward signing with San Diego agent David Caravantes, and sought to handle Bush's marketing with a new firm he had founded.

 

 

Bush, the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner, chose to turn pro after his junior season with USC. He is expected to be the No. 1 pick in Saturday's NFL draft.

 

"Rather than jumping to conclusions, we need to determine the facts before commenting on this report,'' USC athletic director Mike Garrett said in a statement on Sunday. "We have asked the Pac-10 to look into this.''

 

Pac-10 spokesman Jim Muldoon confirmed to The Associated Press that an investigation will be held at the school's request, but had no further details.

 

Cornwell said Bush's parents will "cooperate fully" with any inquiry from the Pac-10 or NCAA.

 

Members of Bush's camp are also expected to argue that the NCAA rules legislating "extra benefits" are not applicable in this case, because Michaels was not involved in the marketing of Bush.

 

Since Bush has left school, any punishment would likely involve Bush vacating school records, Schad reported. A source told Schad that because it was not an "institutional violation" and USC received no competitive advantage, it is not likely that the school would have to vacate victories. This could technically occur, however, if it is ruled Bush should not have been eligible.

 

It is unlikely that the school would lose scholarships or a bowl appearance, Schad was told by a source.

 

"They were trying to get me in front of [bush] during the interview process, which I was never a part of," Caravantes said in an interview published in the San Diego Union-Tribune. "They didn't try to recruit him for me. They thought it would be a good idea to have everything in San Diego. I think their concept was that they were going to deal with marketing, and they [needed] an agent ...

 

"If things worked out, we were going to try to put something together [to become business partners]. But everything was in waiting to see if they landed [bush] to do the marketing. Nothing came of it."

 

 

 

State records showed construction was completed on the home in early 2005 and Michaels purchased it for $757,500 in late March, Yahoo reported.

 

Neighbors told Yahoo that the Griffins moved into the home shortly after that.

 

NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes and their families from receiving extra benefits from agents or their representatives. It can be a violation even if Bush had no knowledge of the transaction.

 

The Union-Tribune said it is unclear what rent Bush's mother and stepfather paid during their time in the house. If it is less than market value, the NCAA could consider that a violation, the newspaper said.

 

Bush eventually signed with a different agent and marketing firm.

 

"This time of year, falsely or unfalsely, this is the stuff that comes up," Mike Ornstein, one of Bush's current representatives, told the Union-Tribune. "It's a bunch of BS."

 

 

Let me understand this...one news crew comes around, and the family flees the house? OK, Yahoo sports is not the Paparazzi. And they move out? Not say, "no comment," or hire a security guard. They panic and move OUT? This smells like a HUGE violation to me. Sure, I have no proof, but if it looks like like a rat, and it smells like a rat...

[Foppa]

It was kind of funny...Bush on PTI just a moment ago...he talked fine until the direct question came up, then it was a COMPLETE Porky Pig moment...a-deeb-a-deeb-a-deeb i now have the money to buy my parents a new house!

 

That's great, Reggie!

 

But why have they been living there for the past year?!?! OOOPS!!!

 

BUSTED!!!!

[Foppa]

Well, since this seems to be staying here, I'll post on it. But also see the 'more sports' topic.

 

The interesting thing is that Bush's parents moved in almost immediately after the $757,000 house was built. But the real question is what the story is with their house before they moved in, and how much 'rent' they paid on the house in question. If they did not pay 'at value' rent, then it will be a NCAA violation, which, if the numbers are figured up, it probably will be.

 

Not sure how easy this will be to prove, but I would expect this will be investigated thoroughly.

 

BTW, Bush was VERY wishy-washy on PTI on ESPN this afternoon about this.