For fifteen years, sports agent Josh Luchs made illegal deals with numerous college athletes, from top-tier, nationally recognized phenoms to late-round draft picks. Flagrantly flaunting NCAA and NFL Players Association rules, he made no-interest loans to players in exchange for the promise of representation on their lucrative pro contracts. After cleaning up his act in 2003, he moved to a new agency, only to be targeted and pushed out of the business for a new violation-one he arguably did not commit. Then, in October 2010, Luchs wrote a confessional article in Sports Illustrated, telling the truth about what he did and didn't do.
Since then he has taken on a new role: whistle-blowing, truth-telling reformer. And in telling his own story, Luchs pulls back the curtain on the real economy of college football: how agents win players legally and otherwise, the staggering sums colleges make from an unpaid workforce, the shortfalls of supposed full-ride scholarships, and the myth of a college education given to scholarship jocks. Including new information about major players and scandalized programs such as USC, Auburn, and Ohio State, this book pulls no punches. It's a stunning and necessary read for anyone who loves the game, and the first step toward fixing a broken system.
Praise for Josh Luchs' Sports Illustrated story:
"There are no innocents in all this-including Luchs. The difference now is Luchs isn't claiming to be innocent." -John Feinstein, Washington Post
"[Luchs pulls] the inner workings of an oily business out of the shadows."-Pat Forde, ESPN
"A must-read."-New York Times
About the Author: Josh Luchs was a sports agent from 1990-2008, before being suspended by the NFL Players' Association. He now works as in commercial real estate in Encino, CA.
James Dale has collaborated on books with Hall of Fame Pitcher Jim Palmer and renowned sports agent Ron Shapiro. His book with Johns Hopkins cardiologist Dan Munoz is forthcoming this year. He is also the author of The Obvious: Everything You Need to Know About Business. Period.
