Alleged College Football Pass Ends Up in Federal Court

The Atlanta Journal Constitution in a post here and here reports the latest in the trial of Logan Young, an Alabama booster who is being tried for racketeering in federal court for allegedly paying a former high school football coach, Lynn Lang, "$150,000 to make sure that former Trezevant High football star Albert Means signed with the University of Alabama."   A key witness for the government was Lang, "who has pleaded guilty on extortion charges concerning his steering of Means to Alabama." 

The defense has now started its case.  As reported by the Atl. Jrl-Const. a motion to dismiss by the defense claims that "what Lang did --- taking money to influence Means' college decision --- is not expressly prohibited in the rules and regulations of the Memphis public schools." 

Additionally, the defense testimony challenges Lang. "On Friday, former coach Jim Donnan [UGA] testified saying that "[a] Memphis recruit's high school football coach wanted 'at least' an SUV in return for the player's signature."

This is an interesting case to follow not only because it provides a glance into some of the behavior that goes on in the recruiting of college football players, but also because it shows a unique side to collateral consequences, something common in white collar cases.  In this case one of the collateral consequences fell on Alabama, who (as stated in the Atl. Jrl.-Const. article" "was charged with NCAA recruiting violations in the Means case and eventually received sanctions that included a loss of scholarships, plus a two-year ban from bowl participation.")

(esp)