USC, UCLA Pulled Away From Star Hoops Player

By KURT HELIN

Updated 12:55 PM PST, Mon, May 4, 2009

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USC’s men’s basketball program has had the NCAA looking its way since the unusual recruitment of O.J. Mayo landed the star guard on the team two seasons ago.

Apparently they had concerns about more NCAA attention — and so did UCLA — which is why both schools pulled scholarship offers from Fairfax star Renardo Sidney, one of the nation’s top players, who will now suit up for Mississippi State.

Bruins and Trojans sources both say they were wary of potentially intense NCAA scrutiny prompted by these issues: Despite what was perceived as a limited income, the family moved multiple times and resided in upscale homes during Sidney's high school years; and stepfather Renardo Sr. directed a club basketball team with financial backing that was unclear beyond a relatively modest shoe company sponsorship.

Plus there was this: A source intimately familiar with Sidney's recruitment said a university official thought the stepfather had strongly hinted that he expected to be compensated if his son signed with the school.

Welcome to the slimy world of recruiting. While many colleges — rightfully — get blasted for over-the-top steps used to induce a player to attend their school, there is a flip side to that. The number of greedy parents trying to piggyback their star child is frighteningly high.

The Sidney’s moved from Mississippi to LA in a move everyone knew was orchestrated by a shoe company. Two months ago Sidney when made a verbal commitment to attend USC the ceremony included maybe catered food for maybe 100 family members and friends of the stud basketball center. And the list of red flags goes on and on.

Now Sidney is off to play in the SEC, where offering money to a recruit is called “a normal Tuesday.”