A fellow Big Ten coach is being accused of tampering by one of his colleagues.
Per a report by John O’Connor of the Richmond Times Dispactch, Richmond coach Russ Huesman has accused Maryland boss Mike Locksley of tampering.
The player involved in all this is, of all people, a kicker.
Sean O’Haire (no, not the wrestler) kicked at Richmond last season. Now, he plays for Maryland. Per Huesman, foul play was involved.
“Maryland tampered with our kicker and gave him $50,000,” Huesman said. ” They came in, they tampered. The kid had zero interest in transferring, they offered him money. It happens all over the country and there’s nothing the NCAA’s going to do about it.”
The last sentence is probably accurate.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.Tampering in college sports is kind of like underage drinking: Everybody knows it happens and everybody is equally sure that nothing will be done about it.
Penn State AD Pat Kraft told a story two Decembers ago.
“We were in Las Vegas for Olu’s [Fashanu] award he was nominated for the Cambell Trophy,” Kraft said. “And on our way there we got an email of 8 athletes one of which was our own, who was not in the portal, and an agent was saying ‘Hey are you interested in them?’ Was just shopping athletes around, I was not very happy and went to the NCAA officials there.”
The likely reality— especially in the age of name, image and likeness as well as the transfer portal— is that most schools are guilty of tampering.
With that said, plenty of Penn State fans will get a kick out of Mike Locksley being accused, especially considering his quarrel with James Franklin almost six months ago.
