Ruling on Pryor not based on NCAA

Although it seems so on the surface, the NFL’s decision to allow Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor into its supplemental college draft does not mean the league will begin enforcing NCAA punishments and suspensions.

The NFL ruled Thursday that Pryor was accepted into the special six-man draft that will be held Monday.

However, Pryor will not be allowed to play or practice with an NFL team for the first five regular-season games.

That punishment corresponds with the suspension Pryor was facing had he returned for his senior season at Ohio State. But NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the league is “enforcing our own rules” rather than carrying over the NCAA’s suspension.

“Pryor made decisions that undermined the integrity of our draft eligibility rules,” Aiello told FOXSports.com in an email. “He skipped the regular draft. He then made himself ineligible for college football.

“Our rules have never been based on the notion a college player could choose to violate NCAA rules, obtain a declaration that he is ineligible to play and then be rewarded by entering the NFL draft. He is not getting a free pass into the NFL.”

The five-game suspension was a condition given Pryor by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for entry into the supplemental draft. Pryor, who can attend player meetings during that stretch, was amenable to the mandate.

“He wants to be a National Football League quarterback,” said attorney David Cornwell, who represented Pryor in draft negotiations with the league. “The sooner he gets drafted by a team, into a camp, and begins the process of taking his skills and matching them with what’s expected from an NFL quarterback, the sooner he’ll have the chance to get on the field and play.”

Confirming a profootballtalk.com report, NFL Players Association executive George Atallah told FOXSports.com that his union consented to allow Pryor into the draft with restrictions. But such a decision “does not set any sort of precedent for future situations,” Atallah said.

“There is no formalized plan or agreement between us and the league to do this in the future,” Atallah wrote in an email.

A source told FOXSports.com that the NFLPA agreed to accept Goodell’s conditions at the urging of Pryor and his agents. Pryor will be allowed to practice with his new NFL team for the remainder of the preseason before the suspension goes into effect.

In early June, Pryor announced he was leaving Ohio State for the NFL’s supplemental draft. The league, though, didn’t grant Pryor immediate entry because of questions about whether he qualified.

The supplemental draft traditionally consists of prospects whose college playing status changed after the January entry deadline for the traditional college draft. Examples include players who were kicked off their college teams, declared academically ineligible or graduated and then decided to leave school.

Such guidelines are intended to prevent college prospects from skipping the traditional college draft to better control their destiny in the supplemental draft. Ex-quarterback Bernie Kosar manipulated the 1985 draft to avoid getting selected by Minnesota in the traditional college draft and land with Cleveland in the supplemental draft.

The NFL also doesn’t want to open the floodgates for players who wish to reconsider their college status after the April college draft is held.

In December, Pryor agreed to a five-game suspension for the start of the 2011 college season. He was found guilty of violating NCAA rules and by selling $2,500 of merchandise given to him by Ohio State. Pryor was then allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.

Pryor, though, left Ohio State shortly after head coach Jim Tressel resigned in late May for covering up the payola scandal committed by his quarterback and four Buckeye teammates.

Cornwell said multiple NFL executives made themselves available over the past two weeks to hear Pryor’s plea, including a five-hour August 5th meeting that involved the league’s security/investigative staff. The league even postponed the draft scheduled for Wednesday while considering Pryor’s status.

“I think the greatest challenge was making sure everybody understood what the facts were – what occurred and how they impacted Terrelle’s analysis and decision to make himself available for the supplemental draft,” Cornwell said.

One of the most highly sought high school recruits in Buckeye history, Pryor was 31-4 as a starter during three seasons at Ohio State. But like Buckeye predecessor Troy Smith, it appears NFL teams have serious doubts about whether Smith has the skill set to duplicate such success at the pro level.

Pryor also isn’t expected to make a splash in 2011 because of the pending suspension and the fact he has missed so much preseason work already.

Profootballtalk.com first reported that Pryor will conduct a Saturday workout for NFL teams at a high school in Pittsburgh.

Other players allowed entry into the supplemental draft are running back Caleb King (Georgia), defensive backs Torez Jones (Western Carolina) and Tracy Wilson (Northern Illinois), and defensive ends Keenan Mace (Lindenwood) and Mike McAdoo (North Carolina).

Any team that chooses a supplemental draft-eligible player will lose a corresponding pick in the 2012 college draft. Prospects who are un-drafted can be signed as college free agents.

USC fans should view NCAA ruling on appeal as 'get on with it' moment

Audacity of hope versus the latest news: After UCLA's spring football game last month, Rick Neuheisel took the microphone at Drake Stadium and said, "There can only be one first-time Pac-12 champion, and it might as well be the Bruins." We know now that it can't be the Trojans. USC has, at long (really long) last, lost its NCAA appeal and everything that goes with it. The Trojans were trying to plead back the second year of a two-year bowl ban and half of the 30 scholarships it lost in last June's lowering of the NCAA boom. The NCAA, though, rarely cedes territory. There isn't a dog-ate-my-homework story it hasn't heard. In rendering these matters, it is the cold, heartless, monolithic, staple-punch dictator it is.

So, USC will not get to compete for the first Pacific 12 Conference title, or go to a bowl, or get scholarships back. The Trojans will lose their 2004 Bowl Championship Series title flag, captured by Pete Carroll using an ineligible player, Reggie Bush. The NCAA can be ruthless and hypocritical, all right, but it's not always wrong. USC fans, coaches and administrators had false hope in thinking the NCAA's recent inconsistent rulings on Auburn and Ohio State might help the Trojans' appeal cause. In reality, USC never had a chance — and probably didn't deserve one. The outrage last fall over Auburn quarterback Cam Newton being allowed to play amid swirling pay-for-play rumors lacked one thing: irrefutable proof. As smelly as it all looked, there was no direct evidence that anyone at Auburn paid Newton or even offered to pay him. The NCAA investigation is still going, however, and if proof is discovered, Auburn should lose its BCS title and Newton his Heisman Trophy. If Auburn cheated and doesn't pay, hand me a torch, a mob and directions to NCAA headquarters. The decision to allow Ohio State players to compete in the Sugar Bowl and defer suspensions until the 2011 season was bizarre, and probably wrong, but different from USC's case. More important, the case isn't over yet. Part of the problem in December was Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel's holding a lie he hadn't confessed. The case to reinstate Buckeyes players also had the powerful backing of Big Ten Conference Commissioner Jim Delany. Knowing then what he knows now, Delany says he would have handled the matter much differently. Also know this: The NCAA, knowing what it knows now, is likely to give Ohio State the USC treatment — or worse. But that has nothing to do with USC, which admitted it broke rules and was only contesting the punishment. USC's problems were multiple and systemic. The NCAA hit the school with "lack of institutional control" and USC had only a twig to hit back. You can argue USC got treated too harshly, but not that it got treated. USC fans should view the NCAA appeals ruling as the "get on with it" moment necessary to move the football down field. Embrace the positive that has emerged. The school has weeded out the incorrigibles, hired an honorable athletic director in Pat Haden and a flotilla of compliance officers. USC is so clean now that Tommy Trojan squeaks. Coach Lane Kiffin, whatever you think of him, did a good job of short-term managing by signing players early and using the appeals process to defer scholarship losses. USC ended up signing one of the nation's top classes. Is probation going to hurt? You bet — it should. The Trojans lose 10 scholarships a year for the next three years, so don't make major bowl plans in 2015. USC was obligated to appeal its case to the NCAA. Every school with a fight song has the right to fight back. Now that it's over, though, isn't it time to fight on?

USC can't get Vucevic untracked

DAYTON, Ohio – The one problem USC couldn't solve in the postseason was how to unleash top scorer Nikola Vucevic.

It started against Cal in the Pac-10 Tournament quarterfinals, continued against Arizona in the semis and proved ruinous in the Trojans' NCAA Tournament loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Wednesday.

Vucevic entered Wednesday averaging 17.3 points. He finished with 11, attempting only five shots from the field. He averaged just 11.3 points and nine field-goal attempts in three postseason games.

"They did a good job on defense," Vucevic said of the Rams. "They took me out of the game. They had a guy on me the whole time. And they didn't let me get in my comfort zone."

Like most recent opponents, VCU double-teamed Vucevic whenever he caught the ball in the post, forcing him to pass. But he failed to record an assist on a night his teammates shot 12 of 33 (36.4 percent) from the floor.

Despite the rough ending, Vucevic rose up NBA draft boards with a breakout junior year. The 6-foot-10 forward said he would decide sometime after the season whether he would enter the draft.

The deadline for early entries is April 24. Vucevic can withdraw his name as late as June 13 if he doesn't sign with an agent.

K.O. LOVES L.A.

O'Neill shot down rumors that he's a candidate for the opening at Oklahoma.

"I've got a great job," he said. "I'm happy where I'm at. I want to be at USC for a long time."

The rumors sprouted in part because Brandon Martin, who oversaw USC's basketball operations in O'Neill's first season, is now a member of Oklahoma's athletic department.

SENIORS STRUGGLE

Seniors Alex Stepheson and Donte Smith did not end their college careers the way they had hoped. The two combined to make only 1 of 11 field-goal attempts and 3 of 8 foul shots for five points. They also totaled seven turnovers. Stepheson did have 10 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Stepheson and Smith were not made available to the media after the game.

NOTES

USC finished 1 of 9 from 3-point range. VCU was 9 of 24. ... USC lost in the opening round for the second time in its past three NCAA Tournament appearances. ... The inaugural "First Four" was expected to have a $3.5 million economic impact on the city of Dayton.