Recruiting: Shabazz Muhammad’s Improper Benefits Not Scaring USC

Normally, when a recruit is in hot water over eligibility issues, schools tend to get nervous. That may not be the case with the recruitment of Shabazz Muhammad, who is a consensus top two recruit in basketball, along with Nerlens Noel. Muhammad’s ties to improper benefits was mentioned by CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman and Gary Parish, in their article on Wednesday night.

"The sources told CBSSports.com that the NCAA is specifically interested in connections between Muhammad’s family and financial advisers Benjamin Lincoln and Ken Kavanagh. Lincoln is a North Carolina-based financial planner whose brother, Geoff Lincoln, is an assistant coach for Muhammad’s high school team in Las Vegas. Kavanagh is a New York-based financial planner.Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, acknowledged to CBSSports.com in multiple phone calls this week that he knows both men and has been questioned by an NCAA investigator about the relationships. Sources told CBSSports.com Lincoln paid for at least two of Muhammad’s unofficial visits to college campuses and that Kavanagh has helped fund Muhammad’s summer team, the Las Vegas-based Dream Vision Foundation. Holmes, who has hired legal counsel to assist with getting the NCAA inquiry resolved, confirmed both statements as true to CBSSports.com."

All of that sort of sounds like O.J. Mayor and Rodney Guillory, does it not? USC has since been paying the price for ties to Guillory, and don’t think for a second that Tim Floyd, Mayo and his handler weren’t a factor into how long Lane Kiffin’s Trojans have had to suffer on the gridiron.

So despite, the allegations of Lincoln and Muhammad, according to ESPN’s Pedro Moura, an official from the university has said that they’re completely aware of Muhammad’s troubles. Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, was a Trojan in the 80s and that could be the lone trump card for Kevin O’Neill’s bunch, as they’re still actively recruiting the 6’6″ small forward. The Trojans appear to be far behind Kentucky and UCLA, both of whom sit at the top of the Shabazz Stakes, but it’s hard to tell how much improper benefits allegations will hurt his recruitment, especially if USC still has their hat in the ring.

A devil’s advocate would claim that the Trojans’ have been squeaky clean under Pat Haden(minus that whole $5 golf cart incident with Dillon Baxter), and that no one should worry. USC has seen first hand how the NCAA opperates, and the school’s compliance department has been on top of things since getting the book thrown at them in 2010. So one would wonder if that bears any relevance into the authenticity of the claims against Shabazz Muhammad.

I talked to Paul Jordan of Wildcat Blue Nation, and FanSided’s expert on all things Shabazz Muhammad. Here’s what he told me about how the allegations would affect Muhammad’s recruitment:

"I don’t think the news surrounding Shabazz should scare anyone off. More than likely, all the schools knew about these benefits as Ron Holmes disclosed who paid for the visits to North Carolina and Duke back in 2010. At this point, it is just a matter of the benefits being repaid, and Shabazz sitting a few games. If there is an inkling that Muhammad can play even half the season, you take him. He is that much of a difference maker. Kentucky has been down this road with Enes Kanter, and having Kanter just on the team for practice made Josh Harrellson a better player."

Jordan brings up a great point, as not only a half season eligibility, but a presence in itself is worthy of recruitment. Though not for the same reasons, Ohio State started the 2006-2007 season without Greg Oden, and USC started last season without Jio Fontan, and both players rose to the top, like all good cream does. Pedro Moura mentioned in his piece that his source acknowledged the possibility of losing Muhammad for part of the season, but not the whole season, and that’s likely the reason that USC has not turned away from Muhammad.

The Trojans may be terrible this season, as they will finish with the worst record in school history, but keep in mind that they’ll return upwards of four starters next season who missed all or part of this season. Also, they have a solid recruiting class coming in, including former Wake Forest guard, transfer J.T. Terrell, who is averaging 25 points per game at Peninsula College in Washington. If the Trojans were able to supplant Kentucky and UCLA in the chase for Shabazz Muhammad, they would be serious Pac-12 contenders, even with a partial season from the top recruit.