Auburn head coach Gene Chizik opened his portion of the weekly SEC teleconference by saying quarterback Cam Newton will play against Georgia on Saturday."I want to get off the table, up front, the fact that Cameron Newton will be playing Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs," he said.
Chizik said he would only answer questions relating to the game with the Bulldogs, but he was immediately asked if he sits down with Newton every time something new breaks on the story.
"Like I said, I'm going to address and entertain all the questions that have to do with the game Saturday," Chizik said.
Newton's name has been in the middle of a recruiting controversy in the last week. Last Thursday, ESPN.com reported a former Mississippi State player claiming to represent Newton's family interests asked for $180,000 for the quarterback to sign with the Bulldogs.
Last night, ESPN.com, citing unnamed sources, said two "sources who recruit for Mississippi State" said Newton and his father, Cecil, spoke about a pay-for-play plan with the school.
According to the report, Cecil told one of the recruiters it would take "more than a scholarship" to bring his son to Mississippi State. Another recruiter claimed Newton told him he wanted to go to Starkville but his father had chosen Auburn for him because "the money was too much."
Asked today if anyone on his staff other than assistant coaches are registered with the NCAA as "recruiters," MSU coach Dan Mullen said, "No."
Mullen did not comment specifically on the ESPN.com report from late Tuesday night.
Chizik, meanwhile, said he hasn't given any backup quarterbacks extra reps this week as a precautionary measure.
"We've prepared and focused just like every other week," he said. "Nothing's changed."
8 comments:
time to Burn the Bulldogs!
GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WARRRRRRRRRRRRRR EAGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Andy, any idea if the latest allegations (phone conversations) were apart of the original allegations that Auburn has known about and investigated over the summer? Or is this something new?
Not sure if these new allegations are part of the original ones. Mullen said the only people registered as "recruiters" are coaches on his staff. And they weren't part of the original story.
It's very weird wording on ESPN's part.
So either Miss. St. has committed infractions by having unregistered recruiters, or the sources of this information are on the coaching staff at Cowbell U.
I am wondering why ESPN is so caught up in all this info. Would or could it be that they are Quack happy and just want to see a Heisman Trophy winner come from Oregon. Wonder why we are not hearing about the controversy over our star running back from Oregon who wanted to strangle his girlfriend. Answer that one- ESPN.
I don't think the appropriate response here is calling out shady doings by other players on other teams, or saying that all players do this and that. That's no better than all these allegations against Cam to begin with.
I too wonder why the stories keep appearing, their real sources. But more so I wonder why the SEC commissioner hasn't stepped in to address these concerns which now involve three SEC schools.
Even if it all blows away, which doesn't seem likely at this case, it's a black eye for the SEC overall.
The real victim in all this continues to be Cam, a guy who seemingly had turned his life around; a great story. What a shame that somebody(s) hates Auburn so much that they're willing to ruin a life over it, not to mention multiple programs.
Why does Joe Schad continue to stick to the "recruiter" label for his sources? Either they are MSU coaches or he is lying.
Has anyone flat out asked Mullen if he is the source behind all this?
If people think Auburn reps are giving non-answers, I'd bet a lot that he would do much the same thing.
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