Charles Barkley: 'I got money from agents when I was in college'

Well, this will be an interesting topic for Sonny Smith on The Sonny and Wimp Show on WJOX-AM in Birmingham. Charles Barkley, discussing Reggie Bush’s decision to return the Heisman Trophy during an interview with Dan Patrick on Friday, disclosed that he too took money from agents when he played at Auburn in the mid-1980s. Fortunately for Smith, who was the coach at the time, there’s a statute of limitations in NCAA basketball, and they can’t take back that 1984 SEC title. Barkley:

“If a guy wants to borrow money from an agent because he’s poor, what is wrong with that?” Barkley said. “Nobody can tell me what is wrong with that. I got money from agents when I was in college and I went in the ’80s. Most of the players I know borrowed money from agents. The colleges don’t give us anything. If they give us a pair of sneakers, they get in trouble. Why can’t an agent lend me some money and I’ll pay him back when I graduate?”

Listen to the entire interview here.

“I’m disappointed Reggie is giving the Heisman back because these colleges are making so much money off these kids,” Barkley said. “Reggie made one mistake. He should have paid those [agents] back and this whole thing never would have happened.”

Many have contended that Reggie’s real crime was not taking the money in the first place, but neglecting to pay it back. After all, a guy who hires a bulletproof Hummer limousine to take Khloe Kim Kardashian to the Super Bowl should be able to pay off his “college loans.”
Barkley is among the growing number of people advocating a stipend for NCAA athletes, noting that agents “have been giving money to college kids for years,” and that his own acceptance of cash wasn’t exactly a closely-guarded secret.
Still, the timing’s the thing. You can’t tell me that Barkley didn’t wait until now to officially talk about his cheating because of the Bush Heisman controversy. His comments got the biggest bang for his buck, which is what TNT wants. It’s Barkley’s version of Ines Sainz wearing tight jeans in the Jets locker room. Barkley’s mouth is his sex appeal. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
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Charles Barkley admits he received money from agents at Auburn [The Dagger]
Barkley admits to taking money from agents while at Auburn [SI.com]