NCAA investigates amateur status of top 2009 recruit

[Da Coach]

Renardo Sidney, a highly rated big man who was though to be a lock for Tim Floyd and USC, changed his mind when Floyd resigned, and committed to Mississippi State.
He is from Mississippi, but had transferred out to a high school in Los Angeles for the last couple years. Now the NCAA wants to know how his family, who are dirt-poor, managed to afford to live in million dollar homes while their son attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-mississippist-sidney&prov=ap&type=lgns

This sounds a little like the Reggie Bush story. Maybe Sidney should have stayed at USC, since the NCAA doesn't seem as aggressive in investigating all the USC violations. But now that he decided to go to Mississippi State, the NCAA is all over this.

[tornado]

here's a story about a top underclassman who is upset he hasn't gotten an offer from Calipari
and Coach Cal is telling the kid to be patient..

http://ukbasketball.bloginky.com/2009/07/06/uk-preaches-patience-to-jeremiah-davis/

[Da Coach]

More about Renardo Sidney- CBSSports' Gary Parrish pleads to the NCAA to take a stand and demand answers to questions about how his father got a job with a shoe company, and how the family, who were quite poor, could afford to move from Mississippi to Los Angeles, and reside in a $5000 a month home.-

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/12008228

[tornado]

Renardo Sydney is cleared academically to play at MSU, wonder if he'd have been cleared had this been a mid-major he wanted to play for??
(actually I don't wonder, I already know the answer...)

http://ow.ly/15LmB0

he still needs to be cleared regarding his amateur status, since the NCAA is investigating some questionable financial issues that took place.

[Da Coach]

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that the NCAA has ruled that Renardo Sidney "not certified due to non response", pending receipt of financial documents they requested and have not received from Sidney. He is already enrolled at Mississippi State. His lawyer says they will not release their financial records, and will take the NCAA to court.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/spor...ppi-state.html

[Da Coach]

The latest on Renardo Sidney, the highly rated recruit at Mississippi State, who once was committed to Southern California but backed out when tim Floyd left. The NCAA is still withholding eligibility and wants family financial documents to clear up questions about how the family, who has limited financial means, could pull up roots in Mississippi, move to Los Angeles, and live in luxury in a huge house there. The family is represented by a lawyer who has formerly represented the NAACP, and who is alleging racism. He is now trying to seek help from the Congressional Black caucas and black congressional members to overturn the NCAA's stance.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?entryID=4517145&name=katz_andy

Interesting that the kid's father is a "consultant", and has been paid by Reebok. Renardo Sidney, Sr. is also affiliated with a "non-profit" organization that provided financial support to the kid's father supposedly for a summer league team.
It appears the lawyer has flooded the NCAA with all kinds of documents, but not the ones the NCAA has asked for. It will be interesting how this standoff gets resolved.

[SFP]

Great, let's just pull out the race card when ever it is useful instead of when it should really matter with the truth. What the kid's handlers did incorrect was not head to one of the NCAA's darling schools. If he went to lets say Kansas he would be ready to play. This has nothing to do with race. Also, I had no idea what color this kid was and I all along have suspected that he was given special treatment like Reggie Bush and OJ. So, if they are busting this kid for his actions while in So. Cal, should not USC be on the firing line also?