The Lions' Pride

I know this was a rumor before it ever happened. Is it final now?

i thought i read that he was taking the scholarship of an incoming freshman who didn't qualify academically...

and i honestly think you guys gotta lay off silas for leaving. He has been acting like a professional since he was a freshman. He made a business decision to leave, and i cant blame him. He chose to play for USC, not kiffin. I dont remember him ever raving about his new HC. He did choose the program. W/o all this shit happening, yea, there would be a reason to hate silas. But it did happen, and he made the choice he felt best, gotta lay off him.

That type of decision – to let Vehikite back on the team on scholarship – does not come just from Kiffin. That decision was obviously going to be controversial and attract attention, so you know the AD Pat Haden knew about it and approved it beforehand. I don’t think anybody has questioned Haden’s ethics.

I don’t know what all was required of Vehikite to get back on the team, but he did take and pass 20 units last semester. He is within a few units of graduating, and as I understand it, his family cannot afford USC tuition.

Kiffin has known Vehikite and his family for years. I assume Kiffin thinks he’s a good person who made a bad mistake. Vehikite is unlikely to play any significant minutes. He never has and Kiffin has said he doesn’t expect him to now.

So this wasn’t a “football” decision intended to improve the team. It was a personal decision to help a person grow and graduate.

The walk-on might lose his scholarship (there is still one recruit who hasn’t qualified yet, so that hasn’t been finally determined). And that blows for him. But he came in as a walk-on and was told when he received the scholarship that it was a one-year deal.

The easy, non-controversial decision would have been to leave Vehikite off the team. Kiffin is taking some heat for this and he and Haden knew he would before the decision was made. Since it’s not about bringing some star player back, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this and believe it was done with good intentions.

But then, I’m a USC fan and I like Kiffin.

Just wondering, when exactly would it be ok for someone to transfer?

This comes from Kiffin. Stop it. Lane could have easily said no, but didn't. He would much rather have a convicted felon on the team as long as he could play and had talent instead of a lesser talented kid on scholarship. It wouldn't have gotten to Haden if Kiffin had said no.

Never said once he or anyone else couldn't transfer..but if your man enough to do it because its the best "business" decision, then deal with the negativity attached to it...

Seriously? Seriously.

So your coach takes felons on scholarship because it's "not the easy way." Got it.

Now that he's out of jail he can focus on his African American classes and receive his diploma in no time

Sure, letting him on the team is fine. But yanking a schollie from a walk-on who, at least to public knowledge, has done nothing wrong, is bush league.

If they sign the dotted line in February, they know what they're getting themselves into. If they want to play big boy sports and get a free education, they need to realize that there's a price to be paid. Yes, it sucks not being able to drink, although almost all of the players in college still do, but that's the cost of a free education. If they don't like it they shouldn't play college football.

That walk on knows his role and knows he should be lucky and thankful to get any money that comes his way. He came to USC knowing that he had to pay his way and if he were lucky he might be able to earn a scholly. He wasn't promised anything. Paying for school is what he signed up for and agreed to. Is he bummed... probably but if he wanted his full scholarship he should have went to San Jose State.

Okay. Some of you are just going to believe what you want. You’ll read Larry Brown sports or some other random joker and take it as the gospel because you want to. Just like all the people who think Paterno knew Sandusky was a pedophile and covered up for him. Don’t bother to actually think about the situation for a minute – just be like the worst of the Buckeye fans.

The walk-on didn’t lose his scholarship because of Vehikite. Vehikite’s scholarship was always accounted for. He always had the opportunity to be reinstated so long as he met whatever conditions were set out for him. The walk on will/might lose his scholarship because of the scholarship limitations (still waiting on one recruit to be cleared). And he was told that when the scholarship was awarded.

Here’s the easy thing for Kiffin. (1) Don’t award the walk on a scholarship at all and he’d never have to worry about criticism for not renewing it. (2) Boot Vehikite from the team and he’d never have to worry about criticism for letting him back on scholarship.

He didn’t do that. So now a walk-on got a year of tuition at USC. Tuition is over $40,000. Cost of attendance is around $62,000, counting books, food, etc. The scholarship saved his parents something in between those two amounts.

Vehikite is apparently a good person who made a bad mistake. He’s a few units short of graduating, and cannot afford USC tuition. He has never has played significant minutes for the football team and is not expected to in the future.

What is the net result of Kiffin’s decisions? (1) A walk-on got at least 1 year of free tuition that wasn’t promised him when he enrolled at USC (and may get another if the recruit who hasn’t yet been cleared is not cleared).

(2) Vehikite will graduate. He’ll still have the conviction on his record, but he’ll also have a degree and some public support from the administration. Better than having the conviction, no degree and getting kicked off the team being the last thing he did at USC.

Bottom line: Two people are better off for the decisions made. The football team is no better or worse than it would have been if Vehikite wasn’t allowed back. Kiffin takes heat from random bloggers. It looks to me like he made decisions that generated the best result for the most people – except himself.

Sometimes (as PSU fans in particular should know), the truth is more complicated than an ESPN headline. A lot of people understand that. Some don’t.