One of the questionable elements of the recruiting services is that the it is very difficult to regulate how much of the payment is for the information provided, and how much of it is “access” to athletes who are being recruited by that school
According to The Oregonian, the California Golden Bears and LSU Tigers were listed as clients of the scouting-service owner in the middle of the University of Oregon’s current NCAA investigation.
Willie Lyles, owner of Complete Scouting Services, billed California $5,000 for a product that was very similar to that he sold to Oregon for $25,000. Both packages included game and highlight film from the same 22 states, according to The Oregonian’s report.
Lyles also billed LSU $6,000 for what is described as game film from junior colleges in California and Kansas.
Lyles did not respond to several requests for comments. He has continuously denied any wrong doing and maintained that he never sold recruits to a school and that he is no longer running a scouting service.
It is unclear whether or not Lyles directed or encouraged players to attend a particular institution, but it is clear that Lyles was involved in the process of gather a lot of information and that he developed relationships with the players he was “scouting.”
