USC campus

From USCFootball.com:

"McNair was charged with providing false and misleading information to enforcement staff and given a show-cause penalty preventing him from recruiting for one year. McNair's detailed Response refutes the NCAA allegations and calls into question the evidence linking McNair with the extra benefits given to his former star running back Bush."  

McNair's response notes that he is "surprised and disappointed to be named in any allegations," and that he is "confident" he will be cleared of all charges after a full review by the Committee.

On Friday, the university filed an official appeal with the NCAA asking for a reduction of some of the penalties and the overturn of others.

“The University recognizes that violations of NCAA rules did occur, especially involving impermissible benefits going to student athletes as well as their friends and families, from unscrupulous sports agents and sports marketers. And we take full responsibility for those violations given that they happened on our watch. However, we disagree with many of the findings in the report from the NCAA Committee on Infractions and assert that the penalties imposed are too severe for the violations identified and are inconsistent with precedent in similar cases,” said Todd Dickey, USC’s senior vice president for administration."

The appeal asks for a reduction in the bowl ban from two years to one and a reduction on the scholarship limit.

The NCAA completed its four-year investigation into the USC athletic program earlier this month. The sanctions, which included a two-year post-season bowl ban and the loss of 30 scholarships over the next three years, hit Trojan nation hard prompting the creation of Facebook support groups and calls for action. The investigation centered on former Trojan athletes Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo.

According to the report, "From December 2004 through March 2009, the institution exhibited a lack of control over its department of athletics by its failure to have in place procedures to effectively monitor the violations of NCAA amateurism, recruiting and extra benefit legislation in the sports of football, men's basketball and women's tennis."

To reach editor-in-chief Callie Schweitzer, click here.