During Auburn University’s (“Auburn”) magical run to the BCS Championship, it was discovered that Cam Newton’s father and an owner of a scouting service made advancements to Mississippi State University requesting $180,000.00 in exchange for Newton’s signature on a national letter of intent.  Subsequently, Newton was declared ineligible to be quickly reinstated four days prior to the SEC championship game based on a lack of “sufficient evidence” showing that Newton or Auburn knew about the attempts to exchange cash for play.  After a 13 month investigation into the recruitment of Cam Newton and various accusations of a payola scandal, Auburn has been cleared of wrongdoing.  The NCAA conducted more than 50 interviews and examined a mountain of records including bank records, tax filings, and phone and email records.  The NCAA’s review ultimately concluded that there was not enough evidence to rise to the level of major infractions.  However, as with any investigation, the NCAA may re-open the investigation and investigate further if credible information surfaces.

For any questions, feel free to contact Christian Dennie at cdennie@bgsfirm.com.