With college football’s constant shake-ups, the NFL’s endless drama, early glimpses of the NHL and NBA seasons and MLB playoffs underway, mid-October is always ripe with sporting news and excitement. This October was no exception, but it was one much darker sports story that stole the national spotlight.

“I will never forget the first time I paid a player,” read the stark black and white Oct. 18 cover of Sports Illustrated, “Confessions of an Agent.”

In the story, Josh Luchs, a former NFL agent, detailed improper gifts he gave collegiate football players in an attempt to sign them when they turned pro. While his tale spanned from 1990 to 2005, recent sanctions like those at USC, Florida and North Carolina, among others, show the issue of agents on college campuses is still serious today.

Stanford is home to some of the best athletes in the country. This fall, the Red Zone has watched potential NFL first-round pick Andrew Luck and the No. 13 Cardinal football team steamroll opponents, and the athletic program as a whole has won the Directors’ Cup for 16 straight years. It is those elite athletes particularly in football and men’s basketball–think Luck or the Lopez twins–who can face pressure.

But is there a chance that someday these years of success and national accolades will be tainted by ineligibility due to agents and improper benefits?

Differences between Stanford and other athletic powerhouses may be a factor. Although Stanford houses an elite group of student-athletes, its recruiting process differs from other schools. While elsewhere, athletes are held to significantly lower academic standards for admission, Stanford’s student-athletes have to fill out the complete application just like every other applicant. Furthermore, the Office of Undergraduate Admission, not the athletic department, has final say over whether an athlete is admitted or not.

Aside from the plethora of blatant NCAA violations, Luchs’ article raised several valid concerns held by collegiate athletes who decided to accept improper gifts. For example, former USC receiver R. Jay Soward said he took the payments because USC’s scholarship didn’t provide enough money for rent and food. Senior Associate Athletic Director Beth Goode said this is not as much of a problem here at Stanford.

“Full grant aid under NCAA rules can cover tuition, room, board, required textbooks and fees–all the standard things,” she said.

In addition, the cost of attendance includes “personal expenses” as calculated by the school–at Stanford, this amount hovers around $2,000–and a secondary fund can reimburse students for a variety of expenses, from course supplies to emergency travel.

But not all student-athletes receive the same financial benefits. Stanford has around 850 athletes, but there are 340 full-scholarship equivalents divided among 500 student-athletes. Some students are here on full rides, others are on partial scholarships and some receive no athletic scholarship money at all.

“What we call ‘head count sports’ are football, men’s and women’s basketball and women’s volleyball,” said Associate Athletic Director for Development Karen Recht. “What ‘head count sport’ means is that [if] you give $1 of scholarship money, it counts for a full [scholarship]. So you might as well give the athlete the full ride.”

The NCAA determines the maximum number of scholarships that can be given in each sport. This equates to 85 full scholarships for football, 13 for men’s basketball, 15 for women’s basketball and 12 for women’s volleyball. Stanford tends to give close to whatever the NCAA maximum is, according to Goode.

Goode said the athletic department advises athletes before meeting with agents, and she envisions an improved program with a more proactive approach that targets particular student-athletes based on their profiles.

“An Andrew Luck is probably going to be more attractive to an agent than some other third-string player who’s probably not going to get drafted yet by the NFL,” she said. “So we could do more of a targeted approach instead of a blanket generic-type education.”

She hopes cash offers do not become more attractive, even for less affluent students, and that some personal expenses should be expected in a college setting.

“While the resources we provide them with are pretty comprehensive…there should be an expectation that going to college, going away from home, probably costs anybody something,” she said. “Hopefully, at least at Stanford…they know the resources are available and utilize them.”

The athletic department requires all agents to register with the compliance department and to provide their credentials, where they’re licensed, by which organizations they have been approved, and other information.

However, Goode said, there is nothing the athletic department can do if an agent doesn’t register.

“Once we know about it, we can send them information saying, ‘Here’s what our policy is,’” Goode said. “We haven’t taken any steps to officially ban an agent or anything like that if they don’t follow those procedures.”

She said NCAA enforcement officials at Stanford are more concerned with the issue of agents on campus in the wake of recent scandals at other schools.

“I would say there’s a little heightened awareness to it in terms of trying to find the avenues for education and controls,” Goode said. “It obviously tends to go with the ebb and flow of the student athletes too. Right now we’re blessed to have some pretty amazing student-athletes who have some very legitimate pro prospects. That’s going to have to heighten our awareness.”

This is an especially difficult area to monitor because a lot can happen that is outside of the athletic department’s watch.

“A runner in the dorm is just something we can’t control, and we hope that through education and other resources that effect is minimized,” Goode said. “It’s a tough area and it’s tough for students because they’re trying to make ends meet.”

She is hopeful that financial support for student-athletes will become more expansive in the future, making the temptations of agents and their improper gifts less relevant in the future.

“I think the NCAA has been doing some new things,” Goode said. “They won’t help Stanford students quite as much right now, but there are some proposals in the legislative process to provide students-athletes a little more access to university, federal or state need-based or merit-based scholarships.”

“[They’re] not necessarily driven by agents in that type of discussion, just doing what’s right,” she added.