Headlinin': NCAA launches a new front in Auburn recruiting probe

Making the morning rounds.

• It's not just Cam anymore. The NCAA's probe into Auburn recruiting is not only ongoing, but may be expanding, according to a high school coach in Thibodeaux, La., who told Fox Sports' Thayer Evans that NCAA investigators were in town Monday to interview him and several others about Auburn's successful courtship of two of his players over the last two years. One, wide receiver Trovon Reed, was the top-ranked prospect in Louisiana in the 2010 class and redshirted with an injury during the Tigers' BCS championship run; the other, offensive lineman Greg Robinson, is a top 100 prospect in the class of 2011 and signed with Auburn earlier this month. Both were wooed primarily by the Tigers' resident recruiting ace, towel-waving wide receivers coach Trooper Taylor (right, with head coach Gene Chizik).

They're also both connected to another figure in the investigation, Sean Nelson, who says he became Reed's legal guardian after Reed's mother died two years ago, and who also runs a small, church-based "mentoring program" for athletes, Total Package, in which Robinson is enrolled. Nelson also drove both on an unofficial visit to Auburn last summer; soon after, Robinson was reportedly flashing cash and a new iPhone that, according to his Facebook page, he got when he "came to Alabama." The investigation was sparked by an earlier article Evans wrote about Auburn's success in Thibodeaux in January, in which Robinson and Nelson both denied any gifts or payments. [Fox Sports]

• Don't come around here no more. Former Virginia All-American Raymond Savage was arrested and booked in Tuscaloosa County Jail Wednesday, five years after he allegedly sent an employee of his sports agency to visit Alabama star Tyrone Prothro in the hospital after the grisly leg injury that ultimately ended Prothro's career. Savage, an All-American defensive end in 1989, ran a sports agency in Virginia, Savage Sports and Entertainment, from 2003 to 2009, but ran afoul of Alabama laws in his pursuit of Prothro because he wasn't registered as an agent there. He reportedly blew multiple opportunities to plead down to a misdemeanor and $2,000 fine last year by failing to show for meetings with prosecutors. [Birmingham News]

• Well, they did win 40 percent more games... Illinois' 7-6, Texas Bowl-winning season not only earned coach Ron Zook another year in Champaign: It was also good enough for a $250,000 raise, bumping Zook's salary from $1.5 million to $1.75 million once approved by university trustees. Coordinators Paul Petrino and Vic Koenning will also get bumps after improving both sides of the ball in their first season. [Chicago Tribune]

• Nothing to see here, yet. If any Auburn fan(s) had any inclination to avenge the Toomer's Corner oaks by striking in or around Bryant-Denny Stadium Wednesday night, it didn't come off – largely because police and reporters were camped out around the stadium for much of the evening after Auburn confirmed the shocking arbocide. In the meantime, the old trees are still rolled this morning, possibly for the last time. [City of Auburn, @IzzyGould]

Quickly… Maryland promotes its new linebackers coach, Todd Bradford, to defensive coordinator. … "Academic issues" are delaying the signature of USC's final 2011 recruit, local defensive end Steve Dillon. … Notre Dame quarterback Luke Massa is switching to wide receiver. ... Ryan Mallett defends his body of work against his final college pass. … UConn quarterback Johnny McEntee talks about making his viral trick shot video. … Steve Atwater' son is a big Gator fan. … Jimbo Fisher gets paid. … And yes, that sound you heard was the first pads popping in preparation for 2011.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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