The University of Southern California athletics compliance office has e-mailed to USC students and staff details of a new policy regarding contact with sports agents.
The four-page memo, sent to some 40,000 addresses Tuesday, requires advance notification from all students, staff and third parties about any involvement with a sports agent prior to any interaction with student-athletes on USC's campus, according to Pedro Moura, a USC student who covers Trojan athletics for ESPN Los Angeles. Disclosure must come from a student at the time of enrollment or from a staff member upon being hired. The policy goes further to require notice within 24 hours of an individual founding a sports agency or becoming involved with one, as well as knowledge that an immediate relative who is a sports agent is going to visit the USC campus.
The memo, drafted by university provost Elizabeth Garrett and senior vice president for administration Todd Dickey, explicitly references student agents. In November, Teague Egan, an undergraduate student registered with the NFL Players' Association as a sports agent, gave freshman tailback Dillon Baxter a ride in a golf cart. Baxter was fined $5 and suspended for one game.
"The university is committed to preventing any actions that a student or other party may take that threatens the NCAA eligibility of our student-athletes or the ability of our institution to remain in compliance with NCAA rules," Garrett and Dickey wrote. "In particular, we are committed to protecting our student-athletes from any contact, communication or conduct with individuals who seek to inappropriately contact or represent student-athletes before their eligibility is exhausted or voluntarily terminated."
A week earlier, USC had hosted an invitation-only agent-awareness summit.
