ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the multiple dimensions of sports agents' alleged improper recruitment of Reggie Bush. It provides a summary of the factual allegations that led the NCAA to conclude that, as a result of his interaction with persons that the NCAA characterized as sports agents, Reggie Bush committed multiple NCAA violations. The chapter also provides a glimpse into the NCAA penalty structure, in place when Bush committed NCAA rules violations, through a discussion of the penalties that the NCAA imposed directly on the University of Southern California (USC) and indirectly on Reggie Bush and a USC assistant coach. It further presents an alternative narrative, as people consider how events might have been recast if an open market were a feature of the relationship between colleges and athletes, the latter being primary producers of revenues for financially successful intercollegiate football programs.
