He arrived in Columbia as a defensive lineman, playing sparingly his first two seasons and hampered by a nagging foot injury as a sophomore. He began last season on defense before moving to offensive guard at midseason.

Former USC coach responds to NCAA violations

In his first public comments since the NCAA put USC's football program on a three-year probation, former Gamecocks coach Lou Holtz said he and his staff "tried to operate not only according to the letter of the law but the spirit of the law as well."

The NCAA Infractions Committee agreed with USC's self-imposed sanctions, although it extended probation for a third year. The penalties, which include cuts in the number of scholarships as well as the number of visits allowed by prospective football players, were the result of 10 rules violations uncovered by the NCAA.

A case in point is this week's pat on the wrist to the University of South Carolina for the violation of 10 rules, five of which were determined to be major infractions. The list included, in the words of the NCAA, "impermissible tutoring for recruits ... unethical conduct by a USC official ... participation by an ineligible student athlete" and seven others, the last of which was lack of institutional control.

"I have previously refrained from commenting on the NCAA investigation because today was the first time I have seen the allegations.

"Let's examine what the three-year investigation and thousands of dollars spent by the NCAA did reveal. There was no money involved. No athletes were paid. There were no recruiting inducements. No cars. No jobs offered. No ticket scandal, etc.

USC reported 10 secondary NCAA violations during the six-month period between Jan. 1-June 30, including two involving the Gamecocks’ football team.

Responding to a Freedom of Information Act request by The State, the school released the self-reports Thursday, a day after its three-year, major infractions case wrapped up.

You can bet that if Steve Spurrier wasn’t involved, South Carolina’s football home-opener against Central Florida at 7:30 p.m. Thursday wouldn’t be a likely candidate for television. And the game would be played on a Saturday as originally scheduled.

But Spurrier’s return to the college ranks as coach of the Gamecocks stirred up a lot of people, especially many members of the media.

ESPN (cable channel 26, HD channel 950) reacted quickly and got the game moved to Thursday so it could show Spurrier’s debut at USC to the rest of the country. And they’re making a party out of it.

The new college football poll being used by the Bowl Championship Series will have to replace four voters on its recently unveiled panel, including former South Carolina coach Lou Holtz.

Holtz, Gerry DiNardo and John Congemi — all ESPN commentators — are not permitted by the network to vote in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll because it is being used by the BCS to determine which teams play for the national championship.