Report: Auburn paid players, changed grades under Chizik rule

If you’re an Auburn fan and think that things couldn’t get worse than they were after a winless SEC season and the firing of your head coach – plus a sea of off-season troubles, then think again. Selena Roberts, a reporter who has written for Sports Illustrated, brought out a report today that stunned not only this writer, will stun a lot of SEC fans. In the report – which is essentially an interview with former safety Mike McNeil – Auburn changed grades, paid players to host recruits, saw more than 40 players test positive for “recreational drugs” after their National Championship win in 2011, and offered money to players to keep playing at the school. Here are some stunning

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Alabama appoints new athletic director

Alabama has appointed Bill Battle as the new Alabama athletic director after Mal Moore had to retire for health reasons. Battle, who played for Bear Bryant in 1961, then went onto coach as a graduate assistant at Oklahoma and the US Military Academy, before going to Tennessee as an assistant before graduating to head coach in 1970, where he was relatively successful, going 59-22-2 in Knoxville. After leaving there, he became quite the entrepreneur, starting up the Collegiate Licensing Company, where he was CEO until 2010. His first client? The University of Alabama. Alabama coach Nick Saban called Battle a “First class person and leader” , and invited him to practice, according to reports.  

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Harvey Updyke gets three years for Toomer’s Oaks poisoning

It’s too  harsh to call it ‘murder’ because that word refers to humans, but Harvey Updyke has admitted to the killing of Toomer’s Oaks. The Alabama fan – who famous called Paul Finebaum’s show to admit his crime – was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting to “Criminal Damage to an Agriculture Facility”, which is a Class C felony in the State of Alabama. The sentencing was part of a plea deal with the D.A. He will be out after six months, and then under supervised probation for five years. “As part of the plea deal, Updyke’s probation will require him to abide by a 7 p.m. curfew and he is forbidden to attend any collegiate athletic events and is

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Clowney has $5m insurance policy

South Carolina defensive end and All-American Jadeveon Clowney has a $5 million insurance policy should he get injured in the 2013 season, it has been reported. The policy – which will be paid out via the NCAA should anything go awry next season – will be paid for by family members, and protect against future . The cost is $30,000. Reply to Charleston Post-Courier writer Daryl Slater’s report, Paul Myerberg of USA Today noted that the policy was the largest available to players. The insurance company offering the policy is HCC, based in Cincinnati. On South Carolina’s website, they said: “Student athletes can receive up to $5m in coverage, up from $4.4m in basketball and $3m in football.” The NCAA

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ESPN announces August-October SEC TV dates

ESPN has announced its August – October TV dates for SEC schools – starting with South Carolina’s hosting of North Carolina on Thursday, August 29th at 8pm. Here is the line-up: Thu, Aug 29 6 p.m. North Carolina at South Carolina * ESPN   9:15 p.m. Ole Miss at Vanderbilt ESPN Sat, Aug 31 5:30 p.m. Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game: Virginia Tech vs. Alabama (Atlanta) ESPN   8 p.m. Georgia at Clemson ABC   9 p.m. Cowboys Classic: TCU vs. LSU ESPN Thu, Oct 24 7:30 p.m. Kentucky at Mississippi State ESPN We’re already extremely excited! In order of games that the neutral should be excited about, here we go: 1) Georgia at Clemson – Two likely highly-ranked teams in one

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SEC Spring Game: Full Diary

The SEC has released all the dates of Spring Games – and when practice begins. Here’s to the athletes getting prepped for it already. All SEC schools and Pro Days start practice between March 2nd and March 27th. Here are the Spring Games in April: April 6th: Florida, Georgia April 13th: Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt April 20th: Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State, Missouri, Tennessee

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‘Bama Four’ Booted by Saban

The University of Alabama has announced that the four freshmen that were arrested a few weeks ago have been dismissed from the program. Linebackers  DJ Pettaway and Tyler Hayes were both charged with second degree robbery, and Brent Calloway, an H-Back, were charged with credit card fraud. Eddie Williams – a safety – was charged with both crimes. And things will look to get worse for Williams, who was also charged on Sunday with carrying  a gun without a license. According to a report on ESPN’s website, Deborah Lane, associate vice president for university relations said: “UA’s judicial review has been completed. The four students involved in the robberies on campus are no longer enrolled in UA.” Coach Nick Saban said: “Based

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One of the ‘Alabama accused’ tweets his defense

Brent Calloway, one of the ‘Alabama Accused’, has defended himself on Twitter. The linebacker, charged of credit card fraud by Alabama police, tweeted his defense to Cardinals catcher Kyle Lamb:  “First it wasn’t a credit card and 2 I wasn’t even awake during the robbery you don’t kno what happened so dont try me dude”. In essence, Calloway is denying that he and his friends used a credit card (in fact, it probably wasn’t a credit card but an Alabama student card that students put money on and then they can insert it into a candy machine and get snacks from it) and has added that he wasn’t awake when the robbery happened. Interestingly enough, Calloway isn’t being charged –

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Four Alabama players arrested, suspended

Four Alabama Crimson Tide freshman football players have been arrested on robbery and credit card fraud charges. Linebackers  DJ Pettaway and Tyler Hayes were both charged with second degree robbery, and Brent Calloway, an H-Back, were charged with credit card fraud. Eddie Williams – a safety – was charged with both crimes. And things will look to get worse for Williams, who was also charged on Sunday with carrying  a gun without a license. All four players have been indefinitely suspended, said Alabama coach Nick Saban. Saban told a press conference: “The young men charged are indefinitely suspended as we continue to gather information and talk to the appropriate people.” According to The Tuscaloosa News, Pettaway, Hayes and Williams assaulted a student

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Most intriguing SEC players at the NFL Combine

To any outsider, you now understand why most good high school players want a chance to prove themselves at the SEC. If you’re good – and good enough to go pro – then you might get invited to the NFL Combine. 74 SEC players were asked to come. Thanks to Gamedayr for the list, without which this article wouldn’t have made it up here. Alabama (10) Quinton Dial, DE DJ Fluker, OT Nico Johnson, ILB Barrett Jones, OL Eddie Lacy, RB Robert Lester, FS Dee Milliner, CB Damion Square, DE Chance Warmack, OG Jesse Williams, DT MOST INTRIGUING: Eddie Lacy could be seen as the next Trent Richardson – particularly if he performs as well as he did in the

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