Football recruit takes bad trip, weeds out Ducks

EUGENE, Ore. — The father of an Oregon football recruit says that his son decided against the school after he was offered sex and drugs during a campus visit, according to a California newspaper.

Leo Hamilton, the father of running back Lynell Hamilton from Stockton, Calif., told The Stockton Record that his son was offered marijuana, alcohol and sex at off-campus parties during his official visit to Oregon the weekend the Ducks played Arizona State.

Furthermore, he thought that UO coaches did little after being informed of the incidents.

"Lynell said no, but he never should have been in a situation where he had to make that decision," Leo Hamilton told the newspaper.

Lynell Hamilton signed Wednesday with San Diego State.

Allegations of such inappropriate activity during college recruiting visits are not new nationwide, but Hamilton's comments mark the first time such accusations have been leveled against Oregon.

According to Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, his staff looked into the accusations and found nothing to substantiate Lynell Hamilton's claims of marijuana use.

"I don't know if it happened or didn't happen, but we talked to everyone involved and no one mentioned marijuana," Bellotti told The Record.

Leo Hamilton said he spelled out his concerns to Bellotti during a follow-up call shortly after the trip. Bellotti told him the incident would be investigated but did not do so, Leo Hamilton said.

Lynell Hamilton made official visits to Oregon, Michigan, Colorado, Alabama A&M and San Diego State. Oregon was his first choice, but his parents steered him toward San Diego State based on his experiences at the other schools, the newspaper reported.

"Oregon was my No. 1 choice," Lynell Hamilton told The Record. "But they blew it for both of us."

Note

• Mississippi State running back Nick Turner was placed on three years' probation for possession of counterfeit bills. Turner, 19, pleaded guilty to the charges in circuit court in Starkville.