USC may have committed an inadvertent NCAA secondary violation while recruiting Silas Redd
Penn State running back Silas Redd is rumored to be visiting USC this weekend, but USC may have inadvertently committed an NCAA violation to get him there.
On Friday, the L.A. Times published a story quoting backup quarterback Max Wittek, who had played Pop Warner football with Redd and said he'd spoken to the junior about playing for the Trojans.
"I told him I was sorry to hear about everything that came down and that it was obviously a difficult situation," Wittek told the paper. "But I tried to sell USC to him a little bit. I'd love to have him here.
"He said thanks for reaching out, that he was definitely interested and was just trying to take the right steps to decide what he was going to do."
Wittek also spoke about Redd in a story on USCFootball.com.
Unfortunately for Wittek, he's not allowed to comment on recruits to the media and his words might result in a secondary NCAA violation.
The L.A. published a subsequent story about the possible violation and said USC sports media relations director Tim Tessalone admonishing media outlets regarding running quotes they know might result in NCAA violations.
"We are disappointed that any media outlet would ask a coach, student-athlete or staff member to comment about a prospect, and then use such a quote, when it is well known that NCAA rules preclude us from making such a comment," Tessalone said.
[Also: Agent alleges Alabama coach Nick Saban is guilty of rules violations]
Of course, a secondary violation like this is usually a slap on the wrist. Most student athletes don't know they can't talk about recruits and coaches rarely educate them about potential pitfalls.
During Pac-12 media days, USC coach Lane Kiffin avoided all talk about Redd, stating that he couldn't talk about recruits.
Kiffin reportedly flew to Connecticut to meet with Redd and Redd and his family were expected on campus this weekend.
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