NCAA rejected Reggie Bush’s plea to reconsider USC case because sanctions were an ‘institutional penalty’

The NCAA rejected Reggie Bush’s request to reconsider penalties levied against the USC football program — as part of Bush’s effort to regain his Heisman Trophy — because he was “not an involved individual” in the landmark case, CBS Sports has learned. 

In a 2022 letter from the NCAA to Bush’s legal team, obtained by CBS Sports, the NCAA Committee on Infractions explained to Bush, “… you were never officially charged by the NCAA enforcement staff” in the 2010 case. 

The letter clarifies to Bush that the sanctions were “an institutional penalty. Therefore, you do not have standing to seek reconsideration. Your request is therefore denied.” The letter goes on to explain that the committee’s decision is final. A similar request was denied in 2023. 

The Heisman Trust told Bush it will not evaluate potentially returning the 2005 trophy he voluntarily surrendered in 2010 until the NCAA reconsiders penalties against USC.

Bush is not mentioned by name in the USC public infractions report despite the program being forced to vacate statistics and school records achieved by the running back “in which [he] competed while ineligible,” according to the NCAA. The NCAA itself said the case was “centered” around impermissible benefits given to “student-athlete 1,” who is largely assumed to be Bush. “Student-athlete 1” is mentioned 340 times in the 67-page report.

Penalties levied following four-year NCAA investigation included USC receiving a two-year postseason ban and being docked 30 scholarships. The school was forced to vacate 14 wins in which Bush played. Bush was also disassociated from USC for a 10-year period, which ended in 2020. 

Bush continues to push for the return of his 2005 Heisman.

College sports’ player compensation climate changed in July 2021 when name, image and likeness laws would have allowed many of the impermissible benefits that were deemed against the rules in the USC case.

Bush sued the NCAA for defamation in August 2023, arguing that his character was maliciously attacked by the association’s statement. Regarding that case, a reporter asked whether the NCAA would reconsider the sanctions given its new NIL guidelines. An NCAA spokesman said, “NCAA rules still do not permit pay-for-play type arrangements.” 

Shortly after the NCAA instituted NIL in 2021, the Heisman Trust released a statement: “Should the NCAA reinstate Bush’s 2005 status, the Heisman…