South Carolina may have bigger problems than just agent issues...

S.Carolina coach Steve Spurrier/Courtesy: coacheshotseat.com

We reported on South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders being suspended from the team last week and when we did, something caught our eye in the story we linked to. We hadn't heard anything about it, but it didn't sound really good.

Now, Saunders, his issues include violating a team rule, believed to be showing up late to practice and then lying about why and also there is a little investigation as to his potential involvement with an agent party that several players were involved with.

As for the, well, newest issue...it may be the biggest of them all. It appears that Saunders, along with at least 10 other players were living in a rather nice Columbia area hotel for what appears to be a rather discounted rate.

More on this from the state.com or more specifically their GoGamecocks.com section... RIGHT HERE

Of course, the article goes on to quote the 'Ol Ball Coach as saying this isn't a distraction. We don't buy that...for a minute.

The players, to comply with an NCAA rule, would end up paying the hotel...The Whitney $5000 or more to make up the difference. We are pretty sure that they don't have that kind of money.

This is indicative of a larger problem that we have seen, particularly in the South where college players are afforded luxuries that most other people wouldn't get. It cropped up with the recent Bar Knoxville arrests of some Tennessee football players. While we understand that the players don't usually have a lot of pocket change to spend on things, this sort of practice is ultimately against the NCAA rules.

The NCAA is investigating the South Carolina incident as a part of their current investigation into Saunders. The combination of issues beginning to pop up would indicate they may be busy for awhile.

Enjoy Coach Spurrier who seems resigned to the thought of getting some penalties from the NCAA. Thanks WLTX-TV in Columbia: