Sources: Financial advisors, middle men key to NCAA case

As the NCAA continues to investigate alleged rule violations at the University of North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, the University of Florida and other schools, a consistent picture is beginning to crystallize.

Financial advisors, managers and a small number of rogue agents are providing the bulk of the extra illegal benefits in the form of plane tickets, hotels, meals and serious cash to players, according to multiple industry sources with knowledge of the situation.

Unregulated by the NFL Players Association, the financial representatives, marketing people, runners and "managers" of players generally operate under the radar in an environment that has been labeled by one source as "the Wild, Wild West."

This situation, though, has grown so chaotic that what's normally regarded as business as usual is drawing much more scrutiny.

Multiple sources have told National Football Post that players at numerous NCAA schools, including North Carolina, have actively solicited money from financial advisors and agents. Some have been rebuffed, but we're told that many have been paid.

The primary aspect of the investigation has centered on North Carolina star defensive tackle Marvin Austin, whose Twitter account postings first drew scrutiny to the infamous South Beach party held over Memorial Day weekend.

We're told that Austin has been accepting money and other extra benefits, including trips to Miami and his hometown to Washington, D.C., for quite some time and has been in cahoots with South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders, his good friend, as far as comparing notes on what inducements can be gained from agent and financial advisor interaction.

As we've reported previously, sources close to the UNC athletic department expect Austin to ultimately be suspended for the entire season.

We've also been told that Austin has been laying low since the investigation began and hasn't been attending workouts.

An Alabama newspaper is reporting that Austin paid for Alabama defensive end Marcell Dareus to attend the South Beach party. Alabama has suspended Dareus pending an NCAA investigation.

We've also been told that Saunders is extremely concerned about being implicated by the NCAA if they see his text messages.

According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Tar Heels cornerback Charles Brown has asked more than one agent for money directly.

According to the agent who said he was solicited, the request was flatly denied.

We've also been told that Tar Heels cornerback Kendric Burney was flown to Atlanta recently to meet with two agents.

Burney and Brown are both advised by former Tar Heels cornerback Chris Hawkins, who has emerged as a central figure in the investigation.

The NCAA has interviewed several UNC players, including Austin, Brown, Burney, wide receiver Greg Little, linebackers Quan Sturdivant and Bruce Carter, safety Deunta Williams as well as star junior defensive end Robert Quinn.

We've been told that Little has been cleared of any wrongdoing by NCAA investigators after a thorough examination of his bank and phone records.

One agent that met with Little described him as a mature, responsible young man who asked good questions during the meeting and didn't ask for or receive any illegal benefits.

Meanwhile, sources close to the University of Georgia program are convinced that wide receiver A.J. Green didn't attend the party in South Beach and was at his South Carolina hometown at the time with the family.

We're told that he's never even been to South Florida. Green has also posted time-stamped photos on his Facebook account that are labeled as family photos from a weekend spent in Summerville, S.C.

Since the adoption of the junior rule by the NFL Players Association, we're told that the situation has grown much worse in the recruiting process with the increased involvement from unethical financial advisors, managers and other unregulated recruiters.

The junior rule prohibits licensed agents from contacting players until December of their junior year.

"It's been an explosion of unscrupulous financial advisors, agents and middle men since the start of the junior rule," one agent said. "We can't talk to these kids until December and by then these parasites have insinuated themselves into the agent selection process and are looking to be paid off by agents if the agent wants to have a chance to sign the players. This is all done without the players' knowledge. You're putting the ethical agents that follow the rules at an extreme competitive disadvantage. You're creating a situation where a college football player's first interaction with business people and his first exposure to the business of football is with someone who's either not following the rules or is operating completely unregulated and unchecked by any governing body.

"It is a joke and the union needs to do something about it promptly. Do you want your son meeting with a responsible business person for his first exposure to the business of football or do you want that first contact to be with a parasite? Players should be associating with the right people and not just people telling them what they want to hear. The first people players meet should be licensed attorneys that are regulated by the NFL Players Association and subject to a strict set of rules. Agents who follow the junior rules are much more inclined to follow the state laws and university policies regarding agent contact. The schools and the union should want a rule structure that exposes players to the best, most qualified and ethical agents. The system that exists now exposes players only to the worst of the bunch."

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