Coach Steve Sarkisian meets with USC parents

LAS VEGAS — New USC Coach Steve Sarkisian met with parents of Trojans players Friday and told them he has always promoted an atmosphere of compliance and that he was confident he could prove that if questioned by the NCAA, several parents said.

The parents, who requested anonymity because they did not want to speak publicly, said Sarkisian raised the issue during a meeting that was held in a hotel ballroom and covered a range of topics, including open competition for positions, dealing with agents and a parent’s request to continue a pregame prayer on the field for players, coaches and family members.

The parents said Sarkisian was referring to allegations that an assistant coach on his Washington staff paid educational expenses for a recruit, a violation of NCAA rules. Sarkisian said that if asked, he would produce emails and a personal journal to show that he always has promoted compliance, the parents said.

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NCAA bylaws state that a head coach is presumed to be responsible for violations occurring within his program, unless the head coach can prove that he has promoted an atmosphere of compliance and monitored his staff. The penalties can include suspensions.

In Seattle, Washington compliance officials met Friday with Mike Davis, who has alleged that Huskies assistant Tosh Lupoi gave him $3,000 to cover the cost of private tutoring for recruit Andrew Basham through a test preparation company. Davis also has alleged that he received $1,500 from Lupoi to reimburse Basham’s father for online classes Andrew could use to raise his grade-point average.

Lupoi has denied violating NCAA rules in the recruitment of Basham, a defensive lineman who signed a letter of intent with Washington in February but did not qualify academically to enroll.

Davis declined to comment about whether a meeting took place Friday. Shondell Reed, a senior associate athletic director at Washington who oversees compliance, did not return phone messages.

USC spoke with Davis by phone last week. A person with knowledge of the situation said USC compliance officials were not scheduled to be present at Friday’s meeting. The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting.

gary.klein@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimesklein