NCAA

USC says it has already launched an internal investigation into its basketball program after Asst. Coach Tony Bland was arrested ... and the Trojans have hired an ex-FBI director to lead the charge.

As we previously reported, Bland was arrested as part of an FBI sting into corruption and bribery in college basketball. Officials believe he illegally took bribes to put student athletes in touch with financial advisors.

USC says Bland has been placed on administrative leave -- and they've brought in Louis Freeh and his firm to conduct the internal investigation "so that we can take action quickly and appropriately."

An NCAA (Div 2) university in Colorado has banned its student-athletes from kneeling during the national anthem ... saying the demonstration shows "disrespect towards our country."

A spokesperson for Colorado Christian University tells TMZ Sports ... "all athletes must stand for the National Anthem and prayer before a game or sporting event."

CCU has several varsity teams which compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference -- including basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis and golf.

Jeff Hunt, who runs CCU's Centennial Institute (which the university describes as its on-campus "think tank") issued a statement saying he's "proud that CCU will not take part in these disrespectful protests."

"Unfortunately, refusing to stand during the National Anthem dilutes the message of the protestors and portrays disrespect towards our country, all who are serving it, and our veterans."

Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person has been suspended without pay effective immediately, the university announced on Tuesday, following his arrest in the NCAA basketball corruption scandal.

“This morning’s news is shocking. We are saddened, angry and disappointed. We have suspended Coach Person without pay effective immediately," the school said in a statement.

"We are committed to playing by the rules, and that’s what we expect from our coaches. In the meantime, Auburn is working closely with law enforcement, and we will help them in their investigation in any way we can.”

As we previously reported, Person -- a former NBA star with the Pacers -- allegedly took thousands of dollars in bribes to steer players to a financial advisor and high-end suit-maker.

USC athletic director, Lynn Swann says he was "shocked" to find out about the arrest of asst. basketball coach, Tony Bland ... but the University vows to "cooperate fully" with authorities.

"We were shocked to learn this morning through news reports about the FBI investigation and arrests related to NCAA basketball programs, including the arrest of USC assistant Tony Bland," Swann said in a statement.

"USC Athletics maintains the highest standards in athletic compliance across all of our programs and does not tolerate misconduct in any way."

"We will cooperate fully with the investigation and will assist authorities as needed, and if these allegations are true, will take the needed actions."

9:31 AM -- All 10 suspects -- including the 4 coaches -- have now been arrested, officials say.

8:57 AM PT -- The U.S. Attorney's Office is about to hold a news conference to explain the charges. The conference is set to begin in a few minutes.

The FBI claims Jim Gatto -- the Director of Global Marketing for Adidas Basketball -- paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to funnel top prospects to Adidas sponsored colleges ... including Louisville.

It's all part of a massive probe into corruption in NCAA basketball -- spelled out in 3 separate criminal complaints.

One of the probes centered around Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person, who allegedly took thousands of dollars in bribes to steer players to a financial advisor and a high-end suit-maker.

The 3rd probe included USC assistant coach Tony Bland, Oklahoma State coach Lamont Evans and Book Richardson from the University of Arizona.

In total, we're told 10 people are facing charges. Eight of those people have been arrested.

It's all in court docs filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of NY and obtained by TMZ Sports.

First, Gatto ...

In the documents, the FBI says Gatto tried to pay one player and his family $100,000 to get him to a school of Gatto's choice. Another player got $150k with the expectation that the player would sign with Adidas when he went to the NBA.

In the docs, the FBI says a coach at a major college in Florida told Gatto that he needed to pay a top player $150k so the player wouldn't attend another D1 school sponsored by a rival apparel company.

The coach allegedly told Gatto that the rival clothing company had also offered the player a "substantial sum of money."

The FBI says it has wiretapped phone calls catching Gatto and his conspirators in the act.

The FBI spells it out ...

"The investigation has revealed multiple instances of bribes paid by athlete advisors, including financial advisors and business managers, as well as high-level apparel company employees, and facilitated by coaches employed by NCAA division 1 universities, to student-athletes playing at or bound for NCAA D-1 universities, and the families of such athletes, in exchange for a commitment by those athletes to matriculate at a specific university and a promise to ultimately sign agreements to be represented by the bribe-payors once the athletes enter the NBA."

As for the case against Chuck Person, the FBI says he collected about $91,500 in bribes in exchange for funneling Auburn players to a particular financial advisor and a high-end suit maker, Rashan Michel.

The FBI says Person would use a portion of the bribes to pay off the families of high-priority recruits.

In one part of the documents, the FBI says Chuck met with a player and counseled him about how players secretly get away with NCAA violations.

He allegedly told one player, "The most important part is that you ... don't say nothing to anybody ... don't share with your sisters, don't share with any of the teammates, that's very important 'cause this is a violation ... of rules. But this is how the NBA players get it done."

"They get early relationships, and they form partnerships, they form trust, you get to know [financial advisor], you get to know Rashan a lot and like Rashan can get you suits and stuff ... you'll start looking like an NBA ball player, that's what you are."

TMZ Sports obtained video of ex-NFL superstar Albert Haynesworth calmly explaining to police how his baby mama repeatedly "kicked me in the nuts" during an alleged domestic violence incident ... even the cop is shocked.

We broke the story ... Haynesworth called police on ex-NCAA basketball star Brittany Jackson on Jan. 10 claiming she physically abused him in front of other people after boozing at a friendly gathering.

When cops arrived, Haynesworth tells the cop Jackson flew into a jealous rage and tried to hit him in the face and the groin.

Haynesworth tells the cop, "She kicked me in the nuts a couple of times."

The officer replies, "The nuts?!"

Haynesworth says, "Oh yeah."

In the video, Haynesworth -- 6'6", 350 lbs -- says he's already called police on Jackson 10 to 12 times during their 17-month relationship.

Ultimately, Haynesworth told cops he did not want to press charges on Jackson that night -- and the officer advised both parties to take some time apart to cool off.

Now, the relationship has completely imploded -- and we're told both sides are weighing their legal options.

Lance Armstrong just SNAPPED on USC, saying the school is full of crap for trying to rewrite history -- AND he's publicly torching the Trojans for the treatment of Reggie Bush.

This all started with USC officially listing it's all-time record against Texas (Lance's team) as 4-0 ... seemingly ignoring Vince Young's soul-crushing 2006 Rose Bowl game victory.

USC claims the record is accurate since the school was ordered to vacate ALL games from the 2005-06 season (including the Bowl game) stemming from NCAA violations involving Bush.

And since that season included the Rose Bowl loss, SC says it's 4-0 against Texas instead of 4-1.

Guess who ain't having that? Lance, who took to Twitter not only to punish SC for omitting the L, but also for what he believes is the utter mistreatment of Bush, one of the school's biggest stars.

"Negative @USC, we were there. You lost the game fair and square. Btw, @ReggieBush is a f*cking legend that you sh*t all over."

SC cut off all contact with Bush after they were hit with sanctions as part of an NCAA order to "permanently disassociate" from the sort-of Heisman winner. He's not even allowed on campus.

A lot of people -- including USC legend William McGinest -- have called for an end to the cold shoulder, but none as colorfully as Armstrong has.

BTW -- USC plays Texas THIS WEEK. Should be good.

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield says he's soooo sorry for sticking the OU flag on the Ohio State logo after beating the Buckeyes on Saturday ... saying his emotions got the best of him.

Mayfield's Sooners put the smack down on OSU in a 31-16 victory at The Horseshoe -- and bitter Ohio State fans are saying the flag move was straight up disrespectful (shoulda won then, huh).

Now, Mayfield is apologizing for the move -- saying, "I didn't mean for it to be disrespectful" ... adding, "I got caught up in an emotional win."

Mayfield says the gloating should have been saved for the locker room and the utter display of dominance should not have gone down in the middle of the field.

Is he right? No. That was awesome.

Jordan Clarkson says it's no biggie if LaMelo Ball's ineligible to play college hoops ... 'cause he thinks the $395 signature shoe is gonna make the H.S. prodigy a ton of cash!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the Lakers star about the BBB's "Melo Ball 1" and whether LaVar's decision to release the shoes would hurt Melo's on-court career if he's declared ineligible by the NCAA.

J.C. thinks even if Ball never gets to suit up for UCLA, he's still NBA bound ... and his pockets will be a lot fatter in the process.

Some huge basketball stars say they'll happily rock Lonzo Ball's new shoe ... and are willing to pay the special price of free 99 ... 'cause the whole $500 dollar thing ain't happening, ever.

We were out at LAX and ran into Mo Bamba & Kris Wilkes ... two 5-star basketball recruits according to Rivals, and asked them if they'd play in Lonzo's shoe.

It's an especially good question for Wilkes, he's actually headed to UCLA next year, where he'll be hooping alongside one of the younger Ball brothers ... LiAngelo.

Good news and bad news for LaVar ... both kids said they'd play in the shoe, but NEITHER said they'd be willing to pay the insane $500 price tag.

One of UGA's top football recruits was arrested after getting into a dispute with his girlfriend at a Waffle House.

D'Antne Demery, an offensive lineman who recently committed to Georgia, was busted by cops in Athens after they got a report of a man choking a woman at the local Waffle House. Officers responded around 9:15 PM ET, but Demery and his gf had already left.

The gf eventually contacted cops directly and reported the alleged incident. She claims they were arguing, and when she started walking away, Demery grabbed her by the neck from behind and threw her ... according to AJC.

Cops say Demery, who's 6'7" and 310 lbs, admitted making physical contact with the victim. He was booked for battery and trespassing, both misdemeanors, and released after posting bond of $1,850.

Aaron Rodgers was ride or die for the West Coast, and especially Tupac, Saturday night in Phoenix. Sorry, Green Bay.

Rodgers was at a Final Four party where The Chainsmokers were headlining, but between sets the DJ decided to shout out the Packers QB with a "discount double-check" reference. Then watch what happened when he cued up Pac's "Hit 'Em Up."

Aaron was all in ... rapping along and throwin' up Ws!