Former UCLA basketball player Tyler Honeycutt allegedly accepted money from an agent while at UCLA from 2009 to 2011, according to an SB Nation report.
Noah Lookofsky, founder and president of the representation agency All Pro Sports, claimed to have paid Honeycutt $55,800 throughout Honeycutt’s high school and college career in hopes of landing him as a client. Lookofsky claims he often paid for rent for Honeycutt and his family, paid a down payment on Honeycutt’s new car, as well as paying for various plane tickets for Honeycutt, which Lookofsky provided receipts for.
When Honeycutt signed with a different agent upon turning pro, Lookofsky alerted then-UCLA coach Ben Howland of the benefits Honeycutt accepted. Howland then notified the UCLA administration who, in turn, notified the NCAA. The NCAA began investigating the matter in 2011. Honeycutt and his mother, Lisa Stazel, did not cooperate with the NCAA or UCLA and the NCAA closed the investigation in October 2011 after four months, finding no evidence against UCLA or Honeycutt beyond Lookofsky’s claims, said UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero in a statement.
In the statement, Guerrero said UCLA disassociated itself with Honeycutt, not granting him benefits such as game tickets or access to non-public university facilities and refusing to accept any donations made by Honeycutt.
When contacted by SB Nation about the report and the documents Lookofsky provided, Guerrero said he again contacted the Pac-12 and the NCAA, but that Lookofsky declined to speak with UCLA or the NCAA about the matter.
“UCLA takes its obligations of membership in the Pac-12 Conference and the NCAA seriously and we appreciate the diligence the NCAA has continued to show in assessing the situation,” Guerrero said in the statement.
Accepting benefits from an agent is an NCAA violation, and should the NCAA re-open the investigation and substantiate Lookofsky’s claims, Honeycutt could be deemed ineligible, leaving open the possibility that UCLA’s wins in which Honeycutt participated in could be vacated.
Honeycutt now plays professionally in Israel for Ironi Nes Ziona.
Compiled by Kevin Bowman, Bruin Sports senior staff.
That’s too bad for Lokofsky, the IDIOT who left himself exposed. Now that he is left holding the bag, he is crying like a little baby blaming everyone else but his own stupidity that YOU CAN NOT bid on a horse that is not going to finish the race…………. burn and learn Lokofsky, so you would learn a lesson in not tampering with high school and college athletes. YOU DESERVE losing your money and reputation.
well, duh, of course these athletes take money. where do you think these Vespa scooters and Beats headphones come from? any student would at UCLA. we’re struggling students (some of us at least) trying to make it in this capitalistic world that our predecessors have created.