HOOVER, Ala. — Nick Saban didn’t pull punches Wednesday when discussing the improper contact with NCAA athletes by unscrupulous agents, comparing their behavior to that of a “pimp.”
The Alabama coach was upset about the rash of recent agent-related incidents that have resulted in NCAA investigations at several Southeastern Conference schools.
“I don’t think it’s anything but greed that’s creating it right now on behalf of the agents,” Saban said at the SEC football preview. “The agents that do this — and I hate to say this, but how are they any better than a pimp? I have no respect for people who do that to young people.”
Three SEC teams — Florida, Alabama and South Carolina — are investigating allegations involving improper contact with an agent.
Saban confirmed Alabama is looking into a trip defensive end Marcell Dareus took to an agent’s party at Miami’s South Beach.
South Carolina is looking into claims from the same South Beach party with tight end Weslye Saunders.
Georgia associate athletic director Claude Felton confirmed the NCAA requested permission to conduct an inquiry on the Bulldogs’ campus. He would not say what the inquiry was about.
Florida and the NCAA are investigating whether offensive lineman Maurkice Pouncey — now an NFL rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers — received $100,000 from a sports agent’s representative between the SEC championship game and the Sugar Bowl.
Pouncey denied the allegation.
“I did not accept $100,000. It is an absolutely ridiculous claim,” he said. “I have completely cooperated with the investigation and answered any and all questions put to me.”
Footnotes.
In the wake of NCAA sanctions, Southern California has sent back its copy of Reggie Bush’s Heisman Trophy. But the Heisman Trust has yet to decide whether the former USC star should be stripped of the famous bronze statue he won in 2005. A timetable for a decision was not revealed.
• Navy and Penn State announced they will play at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 15, 2012, in their first meeting since 1974, when visiting Navy upset the Nittany Lions 7-6.
