Florida State corner charged with prejury, resisting arrest
Cornerback and return specialist Greg Reid was arrested early Monday morning on charges of resisting arrest and perjury. According to a police report, Reid was trying to protect a friend of his that was being pursued for forcefully resisting arrest after being stopped by police earlier while riding a scooter that Reid owned. Reid then signed a sworn document that was false during questioning, even though he was told he would be charged with perjury if he provided false information. Reid has already been suspended once this year for violation of an unspecified team rule.
Ex-Vols coach bought flight for running back prospect
Yahoo! Sports has reported that former Tennessee assistant Willie Mack Garza paid for a top running back recruit and his mother to fly to Knoxville during Lane Kiffin’s time as head coach. According to the report, Garza wired $1,500 to talent scout Will Lyles in July 2009 and the money was used to buy plane tickets for running back prospect Lache Seastrunk and his mother, Evelyn.
“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,” said Tennessee spokesman Jimmy Stanton in a statement.
A native of Temple, Seastrunk had signed with Oregon out of high school before transferring to Baylor this August amid rumors regarding his recruitment. Lyles, who opened his own scouting company in January 2009, is still under investigation by the NCAA to see if any of the services he provided to Oregon interfered with NCAA regulations.
“Whatever undercover dirty stuff that they’re doing, I’m pretty sure that Willie Lyles is not the only person,” said Evelyn Seastrunk. “He’s just the only one that’s been caught. This is something that they’ve been doing forever.”
Clemson WR leaves team, focuses on early graduation
Sophomore Bryce McNeal has decided to leave the football program but will remain at Clemson as a student. McNeal had appeared in all three of the Tigers’ games this season and recorded one catch for eight yards. He has 20 career receptions for 195 yards.
“Bryce has been a fine representative of the Clemson program and we hoped he would remain with the team,” said head coach Dabo Swinney. “But, he wants to fully concentrate on his studies so he can graduate this summer. He plans to attend another school and play football in 2012. Graduating in three years will be quite an accomplishment.”
Arkansas loses depth at DE as injuries begin to pile on
Defensive end Jake Bequtte remains questionable for this week’s game against Texas A&M. The senior has been battling a hamstring injury that has kept him out of the past two games and has yet to be cleared to play by the Razorbacks medical staff. Head coach Bobby Petrino was not able to offer any further insight on Bequette’s return this week.
“Certainly, that would help us if he was back ready to play for us this weekend, but I think it’s still real questionable right now if he’ll be ready or not,” Petrino said.
Bequette’s counterpart at defensive end, Tenarius Wright, will not be available against the Aggies after he broke his arm last week’s loss to Alabama. Wright will miss four to six weeks. Freshman Trey Flowers will see a lot of action this weekend if Bequette is not able to play.
Southern California QB reprimanded for remarks
Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley was reprimanded by the Pac-12 this week for his comment last week suggesting Arizona State linebacker Vontaze Burfict is a “dirty player.”
“Of course everyone blew it up, but what you didn’t hear is that it was coming from a place of respect for Vontaze,” Barkley said. “I know him as a player and a person and think he is a wonderful player, which is what I said.”
“It doesn’t change what I said about him — I think it’s still true — but you’ve got to be careful because people twist your words and do whatever they want with them.”
USC stated that Barkley will face no further punishment.
Printed on September 30, 2011 as: National Notebook
