Making the morning rounds.
? This is going to hurt us more than it does you. At least 12 current players implicated in the sprawling Nevin Shapiro scandal at Miami are expected to be declared ineligible by the university within the next week, according to the Miami Herald, in hopes of having them reinstated by the NCAA in time for the Hurricanes' Sept. 5 opener at Maryland. The move would not mean permanent ineligibility or even an "admission of guilt": It's more of a proactive step to ward off a harsher reaction if the NCAA rules the players ineligible later on. As an anonymous source told the Herald, "If those players aren't first declared ineligible, then reinstated, before they participate and they're found to have violated rules, the school will be in much deeper trouble."
Based on Shapiro's statements and corroborating witnesses, Yahoo! Sports' bombshell report named a dozen current 'Canes as beneficiaries of improper benefits (click on a player's name for specifics): Safety Ray-Ray Armstrong, wide receiver Travis Benjamin, defensive end Dyron Dye, defensive tackle Marcus Fortson, quarterback Jacory Harris, wide receiver Aldarius Johnson, cornerback JoJo Nicolas, defensive end Adewale Ojomo, linebacker Sean Spence, safety Vaughn Telemaque and defensive end Olivier Vernon. Altogether, that list includes the starting quarterback, his leading returning receiver and seven returning starters on defense, including two preseason All-ACC picks, all of whom remain in limbo. [Miami Herald]
? Tough break. The injury plague that struck down Purdue's starting quarterback, starting tailback and leading receiver last year returned Wednesday with a vengeance, sidelining sophomore quarterback Rob Henry for the upcoming season with an ACL tear in his right knee. Henry started seven games last year after Robert Marve went down with an early ACL injury, held on to the No. 1 job in the spring and was expected to split time with Marve this fall as the better runner of the two.
As of Tuesday, though, Marve said ongoing rehab on his knee would probably cost him the first month of the season, leaving junior Caleb TerBush and sophomore Sean Robinson to duke it out in the meantime. "The time process has been a little longer than I thought and I'm not in any rush," Marve told the Indianapolis Star. "I'm trying to get ready for Big Ten ball." [Associated Press, Indianapolis Star]
? Law & Order: Baton Rouge, Part One. Baton Rouge police searched the apartment of LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson and obtained a DNA swab Wednesday in its ongoing, intensely scrutinized investigation into a bar fight involving multiple Tiger players last week. Witnesses have implicated Jefferson, specifically, for allegedly kicking a Marine in the head during the scuffle, which sent four people to the hospital ?�one of whom reportedly suffered several fractured vertebrae.
Officers left Jefferson's pad with several bags of evidence ("He gave us 100 percent cooperation," said a police spokesman) but any charges and/or arrests are still pending. In the meantime, even LSU fans are starting to have a little fun with this. [Associated Press, Baton Rouge Advocate]
? Law & Order: Baton Rouge, Part Two. While the police were assembling the case against one group of Tiger players, the East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney's office was standing up for another, filing charges Wednesday against two men who allegedly pulled a gun on quarterback Zach Mettenberger and defensive end Sam Montgomery during a fight in June. According to a campus police report, 22-year-old Marcus Adams pointed a gun at Montgomery as the latter fought with Robert Davis, 31, and then at Mettenberger when he tried to intervene. Adams and Davis were both charged with once count each of aggravated assault with a firearm,�illegal use of a firearm and �carrying a weapon on campus and simple battery. [Times Picayune]
? Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. USC has named true freshman Cody Kessler as the top backup to starting quarterback Matt Barkley, at least temporarily putting Kessler at the front of the line of succession if Barkley opts for the NFL after this season. With redshirt freshman Jesse Scroggins out following wrist surgery, Kessler out-dueled fellow noob Max Wittek for the No. 2 job, though coach Lane Kiffin said he'd prefer to redshirt both of them if possible and stage a "wide open" competition after Barkley's departure ? whenever that happens to be. "There's just all kinds of scenarios that can pop up," Kiffin said. "The best one is to keep the No. 1 guy healthy, hopefully win some games and let (walk-on John) Manoogian hand the ball off at the end." [Orange County Register]
Quickly? Finally, someone agrees to carry the Longhorn Network. ? Danny Sheridan confirms he met with the NCAA about the elusive Cam Newton "bag man." ? Arkansas loses a freshman linebacker to a foot injury. ? Virginia Tech quarterback Ricardo Young is transferring to New Mexico, yet more proof of Mike Locksley's recruiting schwerve in Washington, D.C. ? Central Michigan suspends a pair of defensive starters for the start of the season. ? Mark Richt is not impressed with his team's effort against "Boise State." ? Florida's poor practice has Will Muschamp out for blood. ? Ready or not, Colt Lyerla is going to get his shot for Oregon. ? And it's not a playoff, but I wouldn't mind seeing the Mark Cuban Invitational become a reality.
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Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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