The LA Times is reporting that a “sports marketer” who made payments to Reggie Bush and his family has agreed to cooperate with an NCAA investigation into the matter.
Lloyd Lake will “provide documentation of financial transactions” made to Bush and his family while the Heisman Trophy winner was a member of the USC Trojans football team.
Lake and his business partner Michael Michaels first came to national attention in April 2006 when Michaels told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Bush’s family never paid rent on the home they lived in while Bush played at Southern Cal.
In September 2006, Yahoo Sports published a detailed investigation of improper payments made to Reggie Bush and his family by the two agents of more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash, rent and gifts.
In a January 2007 follow-up, Yahoo Sports reported the existence of audio tapes conversations between the family and the agents discussing the payments and other arrangements.
Since 2006, the NCAA has conducted an ongoing investigation into the matter, but little information has come out publicly until now.
According to the LA Times piece, the NCAA has asked Southern Cal to join them in the meeting with Lake but Southern Cal has declined to participate.
Experts have said that the resulting NCAA investigation could result in the forfeiture of games in 2004 and 2005, Bush’s Heisman Trophy and even the school’s 2004 National Championship, as well as future sanctions on recruiting and bowl participation.
Source: feeds.feedburner.com
