Former USC Trojans running back Lendale White is telling the story of how someone left $150K in the apartment he moved into after enrolling in the university as a highly-touted recruit.
During a recent appearance on the popular Barstool Sports “Bussin’ With The Boys” podcast, White went into detail about his personal experience as a prized student-athlete who graced the USC campus out in Southern California.
The podcast hosts, former NFL player Will Compton and current Titans offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, are known for asking questions that others won’t. The question of illegal benefits received during White’s college years came up, and the former NFL bruiser was pretty open about benefits he received that may have crossed the line at the time, although he never once said they were impermissible. He was also asked about his former USC teammate Reggie Bush who had his Heisman Trophy taken back after an investigation proved the star tailback received illegal benefits.
Compton went right for the jugular asking, White, “Are we talking coaches? We talking about boosters? What?”
That’s when White opened up about some money appearing in his apartment at USC.
“I really don’t know what a coach or a booster is. All I know is I had a nice house or apartment, and when I went in there, I know that somebody left something behind. I don’t know if it was for me or not, but I never told anybody they left it there, and I kept it.”
White said someone left some big money for him:
“About $150,000. This is all just cash, rubber bands.”
LenDale White found a duffle bag filled with 150K cash in his USC apartment when he moved in.
Some guys just have all the luck… @BussinWTB @ChevyTrucks pic.twitter.com/XZNSzwgibN
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 25, 2022
White also revealed he drove around the streets of Tinseltown in a luxury vehicle.
White’s Story Didn’t Help Reggie Bush’s Cause At All
In 2010, the NCAA ruled that former Heisman winner Reggie Bush would receive major sanctions from his time at USC, where he helped the program win back-to-back national championships in 2003 and 2004. The sanctions stemmed from Bush allegedly receiving “impermissible benefits” from a marketing agency during his tenure at USC. He was also stripped of his 2005 Heisman Trophy.
While Bush has been adamant about his innocence, hearing White speak in that manner doesn’t do Bush any favors at all.
It implies that the USC program may have been rife with these kinds of rule-skirting payments. Bush was the poster boy of USC’s brief return to the top of college football in the mid 2000s under the leadership of Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who was making his name in the college ranks after his first lukewarm NFL stint.
During a September appearance on the “I Am Athlete” podcast, Bush called the investigation into him at USC, “a sloppy one.”
“I never interviewed with the Heisman trust. We had a conference call, so they made a decision to take the Heisman Trophy, based on a conference call, and based on some information we they got from through NCAA. The NCAA didn’t do their homework.“
Bush is telling his side of the story, but again where did $150K come from in White’s residence? White was Bush’s backup, so if he did receive any illegal benefits, then Bush being the best player in college football probably did as well. One can only assume, but it’s highly plausible.
Reggie Bush and LenDale White in the same backfield was something else. pic.twitter.com/PDvPr3QjbW
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 3, 2020
Bush’s comments came on the heels of trying to have his collegiate records and Heisman reinstated, to no avail.
In today’s NIL era, Bush and White would’ve been paid handsomely, and legally. But unfortunately they were in the era where student-athletes couldn’t receive benefits for use of their, name, image and likeness.
Bush And White Were A Dynamic Duo
Nicknamed “The Showcase” and “The President”, also Thunder and Lightning, Bush and White were a lethal duo in Carroll’s offense. During the 2005 season alone, the duo combined for 3,042 yards and 40 rushing touchdowns.
Men lie. Women lie . Numbers don’t lie…….. https://t.co/f1r9NCt7Bb
— LenDale White (@thereal_lendale) May 20, 2022
Bush also provided dynamic plays in the passing and return game.Too bad their incredible run was tainted by outdated rules. Maybe in the future, Bush can have his accolades reinstated. He definitely earned them.
