Sanctions come down hard and heavy on USC basketball

USC announced Sunday it had placed the following sanctions on its basketball program because of rules violations relating to the recruiting of former player O.J. Mayo by school “booster” Rodney Guillory:

* Vacate all 21 of its victories from the one season Mayo played for the Trojans, in 2007-08.

* Return an undisclosed amount of money it received from its participation in the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

* Will not play in the 2010 Pacific 10 Conference postseason tournament or NCAA tournament.

* Reduce by one the amount of basketball scholarships used for this season and next.

* Reduce by one the number of coaches permitted to take part in off-campus recruiting next summer.

* Reduce by 20 -- from 130 to 110 -- the number of days coaches are allowed to recruit during the 2010-11 school year.

Source: USC