If you recall the name, perhaps it is because we have written about Melvin Alaeze a few times before. The former five-star recruit from Baltimore initially gave a verbal commitment to his home-state Maryland Terps, but had his scholarship pulled due to multiple charges stemming from the possession of marijuana. He then landed at the University of Illinois, where he had an impressive camp, but failed to ever play in a game for the Illini because he could not properly meet the qualifications of the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Sadly, it looks like college football is now the least of Melvin Alaeze’s worries, as he has been charged with attempted first-degree murder in Baltimore, Maryland. Alaeze was also charged with first-degree assault, armed robbery, car theft and the use of a hand gun in a violent crime. The charges range from five-years to life imprisonment.

It is tough to sympathize with a man that participates in violent crimes and, personally, I cannot do it. I also recognize that football players, like everyone else, range from saints to criminals (and, in such a large pool of people, there are bound to be plenty of both), but I feel saddened to know that a young man with so much promise and opportunity could not take advantage of it. I also wonder what happens to the many young men, such as Alaeze, who are treated like princes and promised the world in order to play big-time college football and then, suddenly, find themselves unable to satisfy the NCAA Clearinghouse and out of school, back to their hometowns without any direction. Do these coaches, who sit in their folks’ living rooms telling them how they will get them to the NFL and/or a college degree, offer to make some calls to junior colleges (even though the players may not return to their schools when they are done) or D1-AA (or smaller) schools, so that these suddenly directionless 18- or 19-year olds are not left to go back to their same problems without any plans for the future? Perhaps it would not have mattered to Melvin Alaeze…but, then again, maybe getting him into a small, D1-AA or D2 school in the Midwest, rather than back to innercity Baltimore, where trouble was easy for him to find, would have given him a fresh start.

In the silly season that is the off season of college football I find it a little helpful to let my eyes wonder a bit around the rest of the sports world if just to keep everything fresh. I’m not a huge recruiting hawk because I don’t believe in anything until I see it in a set of pads. And with little to no drama boiling up I though I would pass along a story that I wouldn’t believe in a million yearsif it wasn’t true! (ht: deadspin)

If you’re too lazy to click on the link, and I’m kind of hoping you are so you’ll see what I have to say about it, a promising high school athlete and general decent kid was sent to jail for ten years for receiving oral. His name is Genarlow Wilson, and he was seventeen at the time one of his 15 year old classmates gave said pleasure. He’s now 20 years old in the second year of a ten year sentence. Due to an obscure Georgia law that punishes any teen-aged recipient to 10 years with no hope of parole, one of the most unbelievable stories I have ever come across is taking place as we speak. And in an even bigger Roger Foxtrot, the law was changed after he was incarcerated, but anyone convicted before the law change would have to finish their sentence as it was delivered. And on top of that, the classmate of Genarlow freely admitted that she instigated the contact. If I had any hair I would be pulling it out! NOW!

It’s very important for us as a society to protect our children, and to steer them away from being adults before they are ready. But this is just crazy! Would any of you allow your teen-aged child to serve a ten year sentence for something, admit it, we all hope for every day? If you agree with me, head over to the online petition to have Genarlow released from prison. He has more than paid for his “crime” and deserves to get on with the rest of his life.

In Mid-2006 a bunch of reports came out citing that Reggie Bush took money while playing at USC. Well finally after a federal investigation those reports came true. Nearly $280,000 in cash, rent and gifts was allegedly given to Bush and his family by a group New Era Sports & Entertainment who was trying to make Bush their first client. Honestly this really comes of no surprise at all to me. No, I don’t think Pete Carrol and USC runs a dirty program, but usually when reports like this one comes out, they tend to be true. Next question is, what will the NCAA do about this?

I am torn on the punishment part of this matter. If the NCAA does anything the will most likely strip Bush of his 2005 Heisman Trophy and strip USC of their 2004 BCS Championship, but will that really deter athletes from doing this again? I don’t think so. USC will pay the penalty for something that Reggie Bush did, and to my best knowledge they did not know anything about it. That doesn’t make it any better, but it is what it is. If the NCAA gets any harsher they will end up penalizing players who did not even play with Bush, but in my opinion that needs done.

There is too much uncertainty going on now with recruiting and athletes receiving special benefits while being an amateur athlete. Recruiting is a huge business and schools know that; 17 and 18 year old kids are becoming superstars overnight because of sites like Rivals.com and Scout.com. They expect the red carpet rolled out for them when they take official visits to schools they are considering. And for the most part all the schools do bring out all the stops. USC has taken recruits to hang out with Snoop Dogg, other schools such as Penn State will bring in former athletes like Larry Johnson or Tamba Hali to pitch their schools. As long as it is within the rules this is fine, but when these kids read about situations like this they have to wonder how they can get their hands on some money.

Who can blame the kid? They know even if they do get caught they won’t get in any real trouble. Look at Rhett Bomar, he took a lot more money for a job that should’ve been given to him, but he’s still playing football in the NCAA. Yeah it is for a lower level school, but he still has his NFL dreams alive. The NCAA needs to look at situations like this and set a precedent. Take away scholarships from the school in question, that way next time maybe they will police their players a little better. Rules were broken and there needs to be a punishment handed out because if the NCAA sits on their hands this will happen again and again.

If USC did know about this, they could have turned him in and therefore saving themselves from a penalty. Just like Stoops did with Bomar. There is nothing we can do as fans but sit and wait. But we all know what will happen, they will get a slap on the wrist. This is USC, not TCU. If it were a school will a small national following we would see a harsh punishment, but we all know the NCAA doesn’t have the guts to do anything to one of the most beloved schools in the country. Most of us believe that they don’t have it right by not having a playoff, but hopefully they can get this right by putting out this little flame before it becomes a full blown forest fire.