NEW YORK » A former sports agent tells Sports Illustrated he paid college football players early in his career, and several of them confirm it to the magazine.

In the Oct. 18 edition, Josh Luchs said he paid more than 30 players from 1990-96, including many who didn’t sign with him.

He said quarterback Ryan Leaf, the second pick in the 1998 draft who famously flopped in the pros, took more than $10,000, most of which he voluntarily paid back after signing with another agent. Leaf declined to comment on specific allegations.

Luchs told the magazine he also paid first-round picks Jamir Miller and Chris Mims. Miller, a linebacker from UCLA taken 10th by the Cardinals in 1994, declined comment. Mims, a defensive lineman from Tennessee taken 23rd by the Chargers in 1992, died in 2008.

The former agent also said that while he was recruiting Ohio State receiver Santonio Holmes in 2005, Holmes said he had been taking money from an agent for a couple of years. Holmes, now with the Jets, told the magazine that the story was untrue.

Luchs was suspended for a year by the NFL Players Association in 2007 over the handling of a commission check. He says he’s telling his story because "I don’t want my career to be defined by that suspension."

Luchs says he didn’t pay players while working with Gary Wichard, the agent linked to the investigation of NCAA violations at North Carolina. But he says Wichard and John Blake, the Tar Heels assistant who resigned amid the investigation, worked together in violation of NCAA rules in 2002.

Wazzu players suspended

Washington State coach Paul Wulff has suspended two players who were arrested after Pullman police found 38 marijuana plants growing in the house the players and two other people rented.

Jamal Atofau, a freshman backup linebacker, and Andre Barrington, a freshman who is academically ineligible this semester, were arrested along with the two others.

Wulff said yesterday that he is gathering facts and is not jumping to conclusions. Wulff said the suspensions do not necessarily mean the players will be kicked off the team.

All four people arrested were booked and released from jail.

UCLA suspends two

Junior Josh Smith, UCLA’s top kick returner, and sophomore starting F-back Morrell Presley were suspended for the Bruins game at No. 2 Oregon on Oct. 21 for violating team drug policy.

At least two other UCLA players are in the process or are planning to appeal violations that would also lead to suspension. At least one of the appeals involves a positive drug test.

Notre Dame TE out for year

Kyle Rudolph, one of Notre Dame’s best players, is finished for the season.

The 6-foot-6, 265-pound junior tight end needs surgery after severely injuring his hamstring and his recovery could take six months.