Gary Parrish

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- I'm on football duty at Mississippi State, where the basketball team actually held a public scrimmage this afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum. It's halftime of the football game now -- Florida is up 13-10 -- so I have time to tell you that the Maroon Team beat the White Team 86-56.

What does that mean?

Nothing, actually.

Players switched sides throughout.

But it is worth noting that All-American candidate Jarvis Varnado got 33 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in the scrimmage while Romero Osby finished with 31 points and seven rebounds. Meantime, freshman Renardo Sidney scored 19 points.

Does that mean Sidney will finish his MSU career with 19 points?

It looks that way.

There is no update on his eligibility case.

Still no reason to believe anything will be resolved soon.

The NCAA has declared Renardo Sidney "not certified due to non response" and promised to keep him that way until it receives copies of the financial documents it has requested, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

"We've asked for additional information and have not received it," NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osburn said. "When and if we get it, we'll review those documents. If we don't, he remains not certified."

This development marks the strongest indication yet that the NCAA is determined to make the Sidney family explain how it moved from a modest home in Mississippi to a house in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles valued at more than $1 million. It has been reported that the family paid a rent of between $4,000 and $5,000 per month despite there being no obvious way for them to afford such a luxury.

Predictably, an investigation was launched.

As part of that investigation, the NCAA has asked for tax returns and bank statements, but the lawyer representing the family (Don Jackson) has refused to provide either. Put simply, that's the problem. And there doesn't seem to be an imminent solution, because Jackson hinted again Thursday that he will file a lawsuit against the NCAA before he turns over the financial documents requested.

"The bottom line is, they are not going to get income tax returns or bank statements," Jackson told the Clarion-Ledger . "And if this ultimately means that this case has to wind up in court, it will just have to wind up in court."

(Click this link for a July column in which Gary Parrish challenged the NCAA to do exactly what it is doing.)

Interesting bit of information from Kyle Veazey at The Clarion-Ledger .

Apparently, Jarvis Varnado -- the nation's top shot-blocker -- has agreed to be a walk-on this season to ensure Mississippi State gets down to the requisite 13 scholarships. The move will allow newcomers John Riek and Renardo Sidney to be on scholarship, and allow Rick Stansbury to essentially operate with 14 scholarship players (assuming Riek and Sidney are cleared, which is no guarantee).

Varnado's father, Winston Varnado, told Veazey that the family will take out a student loan.

My suggestion: Just borrow the money from the Sidney family.

If they could afford a rent of $4,000-to-$5,000 , surely they could help with a teammate's tuition, couldn't they?

Renardo Sidney has received academic clearance to enroll at Mississippi State, attorney Don Jackson said Monday. Jackson added that the McDonald's All-American will enroll either this afternoon or Tuesday morning.

"He and his family are currently in route to Starkville," Jackson said.

So that's one hurdle down, but by no means the last for Sidney. The 6-foot-10 forward is still dealing with an investigation into his amateur status based on reports that he and his family moved from a modest home in Mississippi to a $1.2 million home in the Los Angeles area. The NCAA wants to know how the family paid rent on that house, and Sidney likely won't be allowed to compete until the NCAA receives an answer with which it is comfortable.

MSU opens its season Nov. 13.

Renardo Sidney's attorney, Don Jackson, told CBSSports.com on Monday that the NCAA has informed him via email that he will no longer be permitted to participate in its interviews of third parties during the investigation of Sidney unless Jackson signs a confidentiality agreement.

According to Jackson, the email came Monday morning.

"This was an apparent response to the recent media coverage of the Sidney case and my direct criticism of the methods utilized in the investigation," Jackson said. He added that to date the NCAA and Eligibility Center have "failed to establish the existence of violations of any type."

As detailed in Friday's column here at CBSSports.com, Sidney signed with Mississippi State in June after USC opted not to accept his commitment because of presumed concerns about his amateur status. The perception of impropriety stems from how the Sidney family moved from a modest home in Mississippi to Los Angeles and, according to the L.A. Times , rented a house that cost between $4,000 and $5,000 per month.

The NCAA is, among other things, trying to determine how the family paid that rent.

In the meantime, Sidney's status remains unclear.

Former USC coach Tim Floyd spoke publicly for the first time since his resignation last month, granting an interview to his home-state newspaper on Tuesday. Floyd declined to discuss the O.J. Mayo case that led to his demise. But among the interesting things he did share with the Clarion-Ledger's Kyle Veazey is how he refused to tell Renardo Sidney he could not enroll at USC. Instead, Floyd said he made athletic director Mike Garrett deliver the news because "that was his decision."

"I was very disappointed that we made the choice to not recruit him given that I felt like he was a good kid, a good person," Floyd said. "He deserved the opportunity to live his dream, which was to attend USC."

Floyd said he doesn't believe USC's decision to reject Sidney's enrollment was the result of an independent investigation as much as a reaction to a forthcoming story in the Los Angeles Times . Basically, Floyd said he believes USC was concerned with how enrolling Sidney might affect the school's ongoing case with the NCAA, and little more.

"Our school was reacting to an article that was going to be written in the L.A. Times ," Floyd said. "Given the fact that the institution was involved in an institutional control investigation, they viewed it as preventive management."

But, Floyd added: "They could not put their finger on anything."

The story in the L.A. Times was published shortly after USC informed Sidney he was no longer welcome on campus. It detailed how the Sidney family had been renting a home for between $4000 and $5,000 per month, the implication being that there's no way such was done with a legitimate source of income.

Sidney has since signed with Mississippi State.

Whether he will ever be cleared to play for the Bulldogs remains undetermined.

It seems Mississippi State could have one of the best frontcourts in the nation next season.

Or an NCAA investigation on campus.

Or both.

Either way, the developments coming out of Starkville over the past week sure are interesting, and if Rick Stansbury gets everybody enrolled and cleared and on the court with healthy knees, the Bulldogs might be the favorite to win the SEC ... and a whole lot more. Make no mistake, the possibility of having Renardo Sidney, John Riek and (if he withdraws from the NBA Draft) Jarvis Varnado on the same team is enough to start whispers of a Final Four, but right now the whispers are about much different things -- specifically an article in Monday's Los Angeles Times that questioned whether Sidney has compromised his amateur status, and the lingering belief that Riek will never be healthy enough to contribute despite his potential once being that of a lottery pick.

The gist of the Sidney story is that he's been living in a home that nobody seems to think his family could afford if everything was pure. It's valued at $1.2 million, and the report claimed that the Sidney family has been renting it for between $4,000 and $5,000 a month. Assuming that's true -- and there's no reason to believe it isn't -- I can't imagine a scenario under which the Sidney family has any documented income that suggests they can afford to pay a rent like that, meaning there's a decent chance the NCAA will ask them to explain the home and several other arrangements, and that's probably not going to be a good day for the Sidney family.

Bottom line, I'll be surprised if Sidney ever plays at Mississippi State.

But I've been surprised before.

As for Riek, well, I haven't seen the guy in nearly two years, but when I did see him at the LeBron James Skills Academy during the summer of 2007 I walked away convinced he was a future lottery pick, perhaps a future No. 1 overall pick. The 7-foot-2 center from Sudan was clearly raw, but he was active to the point where he was dunking and blocking everything. Had you held the 2008 NBA Draft that day and put Riek in it, only a handful of guys would've been selected ahead of him. But knee problems have hampered Riek's development in the past 18 months, and so now he's more of a question mark than anything else.

Bottom line, I do think Riek will play at Mississippi State.

But I'm unsure how effective he'll be given that he's still not considered anywhere close to 100 percent.

All that said, the emotions at MSU are currently ranging from excited to skeptical to frustrated to scared because there are many ways this could go, and a big gap between what's good and bad. The best-case scenario has a cleared Sidney, a healthy Riek and a back-in-school Varnado dominating the SEC while the worst-case scenario has an ineligible Sidney, an unhealthy Riek and a done-with-school Varnado leaving fans to wonder what might've been.

McDonald's All-American Renardo Sidney signed with Mississippi State on Thursday.

"It’s good to be coming back home," said Sidney, a Mississippi native who spent the bulk of his high school years in Los Angeles. "A lot of my family hasn't been able to see me play the last three years and it will be good to be around them again. Mississippi State is a great school with a great program, and I’m coming in to help them win a national championship and build a bond with my new teammates."

Sidney originally committed to Southern California but was forced to look elsewhere when the administration decided not to enroll him, sources told CBSSports.com. One of those sources said that with the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo cases lingering, the school simply felt it could not risk taking Sidney, who has been a high-profile and controversial prospect for many years, primarily because of his move to California and his father's "consulting" job with Reebok.

"They just couldn't risk anything popping up," the source said. "How could USC tell the NCAA that it learned from the Bush and Mayo stuff if the school enrolled Renardo and something popped up down the road? That probably would've guaranteed them a charge of lack of institutional control, and it's just not worth the risk with the NCAA investigation into Bush and Mayo ongoing."

Sources said UCLA similarly opted not to enroll Sidney.

Still, Mississippi State didn't hesitate to accept his letter of intent.

"We are excited to have ‘Shug’ coming back home where his roots are,” said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. "It’s very obvious he brings a wealth of talent and versatility to our program. He has great parents and grandparents, and we are excited to have them join our family too."

Sidney is a 6-foot-10 forward.

Scout.com ranks him as the fifth-best senior in the nation.

McDonald's All-American Renardo Sidney is on the verge of decommitting from Southern California so that he can commit to Mississippi State, according to Scout.com's Dave Telep.

Scout.com rates Sidney as the seventh-best prospect in the Class of 2009.

He's a 6-foot-9 forward at Fairfax High in Los Angeles who is originally from Mississippi.

Sidney reportedly visited Mississippi State this weekend. Assuming he switches commitments, he'll be the fourth top 10 prospect to change destinations since last year -- joining No. 3 DeMarcus Cousins (from Memphis to Kentucky), No. 6 Xavier Henry (from Memphis to Kansas) and No. 10 Abdul Gaddy (from Arizona to Washington). Meantime, No. 2 John Wall and No. 8 Lance Stephenson remain uncommitted.

Renardo Sidney committed to Southern California on Sunday.

Now we'll see if he ever actually enrolls.

The 6-foot-9 senior from Los Angeles (via Mississippi) reportedly dismissed the idea on Sunday that he might spend next year in Europe, but industry sources have repeatedly told CBSSports.com that Europe is a very real possibility, if only because Sidney isn't yet fully qualified. Either way, he's the third straight McDonald's All-American to commit to USC, following O.J. Mayo and DeMar DeRozan.

Sidney is rated as the fifth-best player in the Class of 2009.

His commitment means 17 of Scout.com's top 20 are now off the board.

Here's an updated look at Scout.com's top 20 prospects with their college situation in parenthesis:

1. Derrick Favors (committed to Georgia Tech )

2. John Wall (uncommitted)

3. John Henson (committed to North Carolina )

4. Xavier Henry (committed to Memphis )

5. Renardo Sidney (committed to Southern California )

6. DeMarcus Cousins (uncommitted )

7. Lance Stephenson (uncommitted)

8. Kenny Boynton (committed to Florida )

9. Abdul Gaddy (committed to Washington )

10. Avery Bradley (committed to Texas )

11. Ryan Kelly (committed to Duke )

12.  Daniel Orton (committed to Kentucky )

13. Jordan Hamilton (committed to Texas )

14. Alex Oriakhi (committed to Connecticut )

15. Dominic Cheek (committed to Villanova )

16. Wally Judge (committed to Kansas State )

17. Dante Taylor (committed to Pittsburgh )

18. Dexter Strickland (committed to North Carolina )

19. Mason Plumlee (committed to Duke )

20. Thomas Robinson (committed to Kansas )

Just when I thought Renardo Sidney's recruitment couldn't get any more bizarre came word Tuesday that the consensus top five national recruit will take an unofficial visit to Virginia this weekend, meaning the Los Angeles product will pay his own way to tour a school on the other side of the country that is picked last in the ACC.

On the surface, it makes little sense.

But whatever.

I love this stuff.

It's a big football weekend at Southern California.

Perhaps you've heard.

But it's worth noting that Tim Floyd, Bob Cantu and the rest of the USC basketball staff will also have a lot at stake over the next 48 hours as the Trojans host what could be the best group of recruits to visit a campus at one time in the history of the sport. There is no way to prove that statement, of course. But if you know of a school that has ever produced a more significant list of visitors feel free to shoot me a note and let me know

Anyway here's a list of basketball prospects expected to be at USC-Ohio State game.

(Class ranking, if available, in parenthesis)

-- 2009 --

• Renardo Sidney (ranked fifth by Scout.com)
• Kenny Boynton (ranked eighth by Scout.com)
• Jordan Hamilton (ranked 13th by Scout.com)
• Tyler Honeycutt (ranked 21st by Scout.com)
• Noel Johnson (ranked 58th by Scout.com)
• Terrence Boyd (ranked 82nd by Scout.com)
• Shaunessy Smith
• Derrick Williams

-- 2010 --

• Josh Smith (ranked fourth by Scout.com)
• Jeremy Tyler (ranked seventh by Scout.com)
• Anthony Brown (ranked 51st by Scout.com)
• Gary Franklin

-- 2011 --

• Kyle Caudill

Add it up, and that's nine prospects ranked in the Top 85 of their respective classes -- including five Top 15 guys --  expected to be on campus in either an official or unoffical capacity -- plus Caudill, who is considered one of the better sophomores in the nation (it's just that Scout.com and Rivals.com only rank sophomores through the Top 10, and he's not in that group). So, like I said, this is a huge weekend for USC basketball. And with that, let's get back to the Beanie Wells Watch, can we?