LSU subject of CSC probe for potential NIL rules violations, per report
Published:
LSU is now the subject of a College Sports Commission inquiry over the Tigers potentially violating rules that are related to unreported player compensation, according to an email from Jan. 15 that was obtained by The Athletic on Friday after a request for public records.
The CSC is college sports’ new enforcement arm, and the reported investigation into LSU is the first publicly known probe by the CSC into a high-profile program.
Although the timing of the probe suggests it could be related to LSU’s large activity in the football transfer portal this month, a NOLA.com report on Friday said that the CSC’s investigation is not related to the football team.
Katie B. Medearis, the CSC’s head of investigations, wrote the following to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry:
The College Sports Commission is investigating whether a member of one of your institution’s sports teams failed to report one or more third-party Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals in accordance with applicable rules.
According to the report, Medearis asked to set up a phone call directly with Ausberry or with an LSU compliance staff member either the next day or the following week. The report stated that there was no reply from any LSU administrators.
The details of the CSC investigation were not part of that short note and also aren’t publicly known. According to The Athletic, an LSU spokesperson had not answered a request to comment on the investigation.
The CSC issued new guidance rules during this transfer portal window that reminded schools about 3rd-party NIL deals. After those updated guidance rules were released on Jan. 9, the CSC said “some schools should expect to hear” from the commission the week after, according to the report. The CSC then reached to LSU on Jan. 15, according to The Athletic.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
