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If you follow basketball closely, then you have probably heard or read a hundred stories about this or that guy doing this or that corrupt thing to recruit this or that player.

But a year later, the details are all pretty hazy, right?

Louis Johnson's (remember him?) account of Valentine's Day 2007, as reported by Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson and Jason Cole, is likely to buck the trend:

Sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., [Rodney] Guillory and [Louis] Johnson headed toward Beverly Hills to meet with Floyd. During the drive, Johnson listened as Guillory and Floyd exchanged several cell phone calls as [USC Coach Tim] Floyd explained where the meeting would take place.

Upon arriving in Beverly Hills, Guillory pulled up to a stretch of cafes in the downtown shopping district, where Floyd was waiting on the sidewalk. Because there were no parking spaces, Guillory asked Johnson to circle the block in the SUV until Guillory was ready to be picked up. Johnson exited the passenger side of the vehicle, at which point Johnson saw Floyd and the two exchanged greetings. Johnson then got into the driver's seat and proceeded to circle the block while Guillory and Floyd met.

After approximately 15 minutes, Johnson saw Guillory waiting on the curb in front of the stretch of cafes and pulled over to pick him up. Once Guillory was inside the vehicle, he produced a white envelope with cash inside. Guillory told Johnson that Floyd had given him "a grand," and Johnson was able to view $100 bills inside the envelope. He said he believed there appeared to be "substantially" more than $1,000, although he did not count the bills.

First things first: You have to allow for the possibility that it's all made up. It's the uncorroborated tale of an accused man. But as Robinson and Cole diligently explain, Johnson's lawyers are adamant that this is the same tale Johnson told federal investigators, and he could be charged with a crime for lying to them.

This is the kind of sexy account that will get people's attention: Big-name coach, Beverly Hills cafe, and an envelope of cash destined for Vegas.

It's better than ready for TV: I suspect some version of this has been made for TV a dozen times.

There's a ton of cash in recruiting basketball players. Sneaker money, agent money, booster money, fraudulent charities, siblings and parents of players getting jobs they wouldn't normally get, AAU coaches driving very nice cars ... Such things have been reported a zillion times, and you'd have to assume that the vast majority of such cases never make it to the public. Put it all together and the amount of money involved would make an envelope with some weekend mad money seem trivial to meaningless.

But mark my words: It could take years, but this is the anecdote that will touch off the most meaningful changes in a long time. This story is hard to forget.

And whether or not this one incident really matters, what it really makes me think is: Why, again, would it be so terrible for someone like O.J. Mayo to earn a living wage for the work he does in the entertainment industry that stars programs like USC basketball? By hiding his value as a star basketball player, aren't you almost guaranteeing you'll create underground ways for the market to realize that value? Wouldn't it be better if that person was the player who does the work, instead of some runner savvy in the ways of the basketball underworld?