FBI probe uncovers massive college basketball scandal snaring big-time programs

https://sports.yahoo.com/fbi-probe-uncovers-massive-college-basketball-scandal-snaring-big-time-programs-144631716.html



FBI probe uncovers massive college basketball scandal snaring big-time programs


Dan Wetzel
Columnist, Yahoo Sports


Sep 26, 2017, 7:46 AM




An FBI sting uncovered illegal activity that led to the indictment of 10 men, including active assistant basketball coaches at Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and USC. (AP)



The worst-kept secret in college basketball is how coaches, sneaker executives, sports agents, travel-team coaches and financial advisers, often through under-the-table payments, steer top high school talent first to NCAA programs and later to apparel brands and professional representation once they enter the NBA.

Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York blew this shadowy world open in ways that have never before been seen, indicting 10 men, including active assistant basketball coaches at Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and USC, plus an executive for adidas, in a widespread case that is sure to rock college basketball to its core.

While only four schools are currently involved, the complaints will provide a treasure map for NCAA investigators as it tells stories of endless payouts and kickbacks in the recruitment of numerous top prospects over the past three years.

And that’s before any of the involved agree to cooperate with authorities.

Among the named defendants include former NBA star Chuck Person, an assistant at Auburn, as well as assistants Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State, Emmanuel “Book” Richardson of Arizona and Tony Bland of USC. Adidas executive Jim Gatto is also named, as well as agents and financial planners.

While some other major schools and national championship coaches are not specifically named yet, nearly any college basketball fan can put the dots together on some of the recruiting stories to figure out who is who. The names that are expected to come out will be prominent.

Using a “cooperating witness” who is described as operating an athlete management business (a financial planner who handled the money for pro athletes), the FBI was able to get an undercover agent into hotel rooms, meetings and deals. In 2016, the cooperating witness was accused of committing securities fraud, according to the complaints, and presumably flipped after that. The details are overwhelming.

One case among many in the three complaints, which total nearly 200 pages, states adidas’ Gatto, financial planner Munish Sood and agent Christian Dawkins “conspired to illicitly funnel approximately $100,000 from company-1 to the family of Player-10, an All-American high school basketball player; to assist one or more coaches at University-6, a school sponsored by Company-1, and to further ensure that Player-6 ultimately retained the services of Dawkins and Sood and signed with Company-1 upon entering the NBA.

“The bribe money was structured in a manner so to conceal it from the NCAA and officials at University-6 by among other things having Company-1 wire money to a third party consultants who them facilitated cash payments to Player-10s family.”

The indictments suggest a mountain of evidence from recordings, written communications, corroborating testimony, financial data footprints and the undercover FBI agent.

The defendants are all legally presumed innocent until proven guilty. None could be immediately reached for comment.

In a statement released Tuesday morning, adidas said: ““Today, we became aware that federal investigators arrested an adidas employee. We are learning more about the situation. We’re unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more.”

College basketball has dealt with suspicions of widespread corruption for generations. It’s long operated on a public relations campaign that suggests there are a few bad apples but most schools and recruits are clean.

That will struggle to survive after the federal government got involved in investigating the sport like never before.

The U.S. Attorney has scheduled a noon ET press conference in New York to further address the case. Yahoo Sports will continue to update this developing story.



bob



.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 21 minutes ago
US Atty in NCAA case made clear that the players were not ripped off in this case. Essentially said victims are misled schools & taxpayers.
reply retweet like


bob


.

Collegiate sports is very, very lucrative. If this is going on in basketball, imagine the dollars being tossed around in college football.

I am a firm believer that prohibition creates black markets.


KJ

https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa-needs-give-louisville-basketball-death-sentence-bombshell-allegations-prove-correct-181930063.html



Louisville basketball should be given death penalty if bombshell NCAA allegations prove true



Pat Forde
College football and basketball columnist
Yahoo Sports


Sep 26, 2017, 11:19 AM

 


LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The NCAA death penalty, the much-discussed but 30-years-dormant nuclear option of college sports, is about to make a comeback.

Louisville basketball, one of the most successful in history on the court and for decades the most lucrative hoops program in America, prepare for your demise.

The program should be shut down, if the bombshell allegations announcement of allegations Tuesday prove to be true. If that doesn’t happen, the NCAA is useless.

Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino should be gone, a gilded career ending in disgrace. It seems highly plausible that he will take athletic director Tom Jurich with him, a man who lifted an entire department, and now oversees its ruination.

They were heroes here, for many years. And now they have been party to multiple scandals and a stain so deep on the basketball program that it may never fully go away. SMU football knows the feeling.

Louisville already was ordered by the NCAA in the spring to vacate its 2013 national title because of stripper parties for recruits and players funded by a former program staffer. That was embarrassment enough. Now there is this, very strong evidence that the school is involved in high-dollar buying of players.

Some 28 years ago, Pitino took over a scandal-ridden Kentucky program and promised to clean it up and win the right way. He referenced the Sports Illustrated cover on the scandal in Lexington, a cover that read “Kentucky’s Shame.” He then achieved his greatest success there, winning a 1996 national title with one of the most powerful teams ever assembled.


The United States Attorney’s Office’s announcement Tuesday could spell the end of Rick Pitino … and Louisville basketball. (AP)


Then Pitino followed it up with a national title at Louisville. He was the only coach to win championships at two different schools, cementing his status as an all-time great. And now it almost certainly will end in a fall of Shakespearian dimension.

It will end with Louisville’s shame.

Jurich, the man who stood by his basketball coach through glory and tawdriness, will be part of the shame. He elevated the football program, but showed enough desperation to bring back the tainted Bobby Petrino. He got Louisville into the Atlantic Coast Conference, a destination beyond the school’s wildest dreams, but now the league must be regretting the baggage it brought.

Pitino issued a statement Tuesday evening through his lawyer, Steve Pence, that said: “These allegations come as a complete shock to me. If true, I agree with the U.S. Attorneys Office that these third-party schemes, initiated by a few bad actors, operated to commit a fraud on the impacted universities and their basketball programs, including the University of Louisville. Our fans and supporters deserve better and I am committed to taking whatever steps are needed to ensure those responsible are held accountable.”

Pitino was shocked by the last scandal, too. Playing the shocked head coach undermined by the rogue assistant isn’t going to fly a second time, like it did with Andre McGee and the strippers.. That worked once – and many people were surprised it worked then. Now? The accountability needs to go to the top.

Pitino and Jurich both need to go. And the basketballs need to be put away for a year or more.

Shut the thing down.

There’s no other hometown college basketball team in the city of Louisville, arguably the most passionate metro area in America when it comes to that sport. It could happen. To devastating financial and civic effect.

The Cardinals program is not named in the announcement of charges released by the United States Attorney’s Office on Tuesday morning. None of its employees are charged. For now, those charges are reserved for assistant coaches at Arizona, USC, Oklahoma State and Auburn. There also are charges against an array of third parties who for years have made the greasy wheels of college basketball turn: an Adidas executive, financial advisers and agents.

But the U.S. Attorney’s release includes several pages that unmistakably paint a picture of Louisville as heavily involved in the scheme. As Joon H. Kim, the acting United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news conference Tuesday, “Google is an amazing thing.” In other words, you can use it to learn that the school described by the U.S. Attorney’s office as being a public research university in Kentucky with approximately 22,640 students is clearly Louisville. And Louisville, according to the feds, was the beneficiary of a $100,000 agreement to bring a star recruit into the program.

Connect the dots on that and the star player is Brian Bowen, a five-star prospect whose recruitment was unusual, meandering and much-delayed before he suddenly committed to Louisville on June 3.

The financial agreement to deliver Bowen to Louisville was reached “in or around May of 2017,” according to the release. It states: “At the request of at least one coach from [Louisville] … the defendants, and others agreed to funnel $100,000 [payable in four installments] from [Adidas] to the family of [Bowen].”

Furthermore, the feds allege that in a July 27 meeting in a Las Vegas hotel, a Louisville assistant was part of a discussion to pay a player from the class of 2019 to commit to the Cardinals. Part of the discussion was to note that the involved school “was already on probation with the NCAA” and that “they would have to be particularly careful with how they passed money” to the player.

There is video surveillance of the meeting, according to the release. They have an audio recording. The lawmen are not guessing here; they have hard evidence.

At least five other schools are caught up in this mess. Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State and USC all had coaches arrested. Like Louisville, another school is unnamed – but connect the dots and it is Miami, an Adidas-outfitted school which has risen to basketball prominence in recent years.

The ripples promise to spread from there. As FBI assistant director Bill Sweeney said ominously Tuesday, “We have your playbook. Our investigation is ongoing. We are conducting additional interviews as we speak.”

Every basketball program in America is running scared right now, because this is how business gets done. A lot of people knew it, but nobody was able to lay it out with proof like the feds did on Tuesday. It’s a dirty sport, and today we know how dirty.

The damage to it will be immense and long-lasting. The NCAA will have a hard fight to make anyone believe in its bread-winner sport again. Which is why the first order of business needs to be blasting Louisville basketball into non-existence.

Shut it down.






































bob



.

The most amazing thing is that among the dirtiest hands in this are going to be numerous players and their families, yet there is no clear indication they will be punished.  A great deal of this was driven by the athletes families themselves, in their pursuit of profit from demand for their supposedly amateur student athlete.  These people should also have consequences to pay for their actions.  Bet they won't.

Interesting too, that Pitino and Jurich are now out, without ever being among those named in the initial release of the probe. Their assistants, however, seem to have been implicated and that goes upstream.  I'm not commenting on their possible guilt or innocence, or defending them in any way. I'm saying only that they weren't part of the four directly and initially accused programs, but have rapidly been shown the door as if they were.

I have two problems with this story, and believe me, I have no love for Rick Pitino.

1. No where in the indictment is Louisville mentioned. How do we know the school's players or staff were involved?

2. I really dislike the repeated use of the term Chuck Connors Person. It gives our former Celtics, Chick "the Rifleman" Connors a bad name.

worcester wrote:I have two problems with this story, and believe me, I have no love for Rick Pitino.

1. No where in the indictment is Louisville mentioned. How do we know the school's players or staff were involved?

2. I really dislike the repeated use of the term Chuck Connors Person.  It gives our former Celtics, Chick "the Rifleman" Connors a bad name.

Worcester,

1. It is being reported that Louisville is one of the universities involved. Rick Pitino, and Louisville's Athletic Director, have been placed on "administrative leave". Pitino's lawyer has said that Pitino has been "effectively fired". Louisville's interim president, Greg Postel, has admitted that Louisville is part of the investigation.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/20834710/louisville-head-coach-rick-pitino-athletic-director-tom-jurich-out


2. The "Chuck Connors Person" that is being named as a defendant is former Indiana Pacers player Chuck Person, whose nickname was "The Rifleman" after the show with our Celtic Chuck Connors, because he was a good shooter and because his middle name was Connors. He was, until he was arrested on 9/25, an assistant coach at Auburn University. He has been suspended without pay by Auburn. I don't believe Auburn was mentioned specifically either.



bob


.

Another reason to dislike RICK PITINO.

Ok. Now I get it. Louisville and Adidas funnelled 100k to family of Bruce Bowen in order for him to join Louisville. Adidas and Louisville then complete sponsorship deal worth $160m. Presumably eventually Bowen would get deal with Adidas once in NBA.

Expectation then would be that adidas would provide cash to recruit players to Louisville

RosalieTCeltics wrote:By the way it is not Bruce Bowen it is Brian Bowen, one of the players receiving money and his family

right

(Grrr.... posting from my phone)

This is not to defend Pitino in any way, but I will say that I'm not a fan of players not being able to profit off of themselves while their respective colleges reap the benefits...


KJ

Hard to feel bad for the college kids included on this one.  They're the ones that profited the most.  I think they, and their families, should be penalized as well.

I firmly believe student athletes shouldn't receive an additional dime.  They get a scholarship for some sports at the D1 level, and that's worth more than enough.  Just look at the tuition at some of these schools!  They need more?  If they wish to go pro from there, and they're good enough, fine.  Otherwise, try parking that backside in class.  The vast majority of student-athletes do just that, and go pro in something other than their sport.

I have a nephew and a niece that both played D1 sports at major colleges; Georgetown and American University.  Both are now employed and already making fantastic incomes at the young ages of 24 and 22.  There was no whining about the school or program making money off of them.  They got great educations and degrees. They will both come out ahead because they made the most of the opportunity offered.  I am incredibly proud of both of them.  Too bad for those that don't capitalize on their opportunity to educate themselves in my opinion.  They failed to take advantage.  Their fault.  

Enough crying about what the schools make; they also give the student-athletes the chance to secure their future.  I think that's a fair trade.

NYCelt wrote:Hard to feel bad for the college kids included on this one.  They're the ones that profited the most.  I think they, and their families, should be penalized as well.

I firmly believe student athletes shouldn't receive an additional dime.  They get a scholarship for some sports at the D1 level, and that's worth more than enough.  Just look at the tuition at some of these schools!  They need more?  If they wish to go pro from there, and they're good enough, fine.  Otherwise, try parking that backside in class.  The vast majority of student-athletes do just that, and go pro in something other than their sport.

I have a nephew and a niece that both played D1 sports at major colleges; Georgetown and American University.  Both are now employed and already making fantastic incomes at the young ages of 24 and 22.  There was no whining about the school or program making money off of them.  They got great educations and degrees. They will both come out ahead because they made the most of the opportunity offered.  I am incredibly proud of both of them.  Too bad for those that don't capitalize on their opportunity to educate themselves in my opinion.  They failed to take advantage.  Their fault.  

Enough crying about what the schools make; they also give the student-athletes the chance to secure their future.  I think that's a fair trade.

Tuition (in many cases) is subsidized by the government anyway. The immediate monetary value of a student's scholarship is negligible compared to the profits that schools rake in. For example, Alabama Football probably makes $100M a year easily. Don't let those tuition rates trick ya.

If a student is a highly-touted prospect, they have much more to lose than a more average athlete. If they get hurt, their draft stock and potential earnings will surely take a significant hit. If you have the talent, you should be able to profit from that. Period.

I do not have a shred of sympathy for these schools which really just operate as capitalist corporations do.


KJ

KJ,

Sorry, but I don't see it that way.

Over a lifetime of earnings, I think the tradeoff is more than fair.

In the case of a career ending injury, that's all the more reason to take advantage of the education.  In most cases, and you can easily verify this with a phone call, the scholarship or some form of aid stays in place if the athlete can no longer compete.  I've seen this first hand in my business, by the way.  Working with college placement consultants is among the services I provide for my clients.  We do see athletes on scholarship often. Not to pick a fight with you, but these are not at all government subsidized. They're provided by the endowment funds from the respective schools.  If the student-athletes won't do the work it takes to get a degree, it's not the university's fault.

Student athletes who only attend school with the sole intent of becoming pro athletes are limiting themselves anyway.  If they get hurt and it ends there, they still got a paid shot at their dream.

If they stay healthy, get drafted, and turn pro, great.  If not, they better have a back-up.  I think they're failing themselves if they don't.

The schools make a ton of money, and the student-athlete gets a heavily discounted education and other benefits.  What's wrong with that?

Regards

NY Celt,

When I was talking about subsidies, I was referring strictly to tuition costs.

Don't get me wrong, I respect your opinion and reason and I agree with a lot of your points. But I'm of the mindset that once someone is "of age" they should have more control over their own immediate destiny. Schools profit far more from athletes than the other way around. They use their prestige and ability to attract recruits as their marketing pitch. I'm not saying the educational piece isn't important, because everyone should have that back up. But in absence of going professional out of high school, there should be some means for them to profit from their talents/likenesses if a university is going to.


KJ

Schools make hundreds of millions on sponsorship deals, coaches are paid millions and are often the highest paid public employees in the state, advertisers use their labor to sell products and in the meanwhile the athletes lose the opportunity to monetize their skill and their fellow students have to pay to watch them perform, all in the name of amateurism.

Well guys, you'll just have to call me the Capitalist Pig on this.  It's OK, I've heard it before.

Yes, the schools and conferences make a ton off the student athletes, but the student athlete gets a lot in return.

If you want to join me for just a moment in my dungeon, err... accounting department, what is made on average per student athlete is very little.  It's the collective group that counts.

So, yes, Jabari Parker made his school a bunch of money through jersey sales and all kinds of merchandizing.  But there were also scholarship guys that year that the school lost money on.  All got their various levels of tuition and other breaks, however.  Jabari went on to a big pro contract.  Others are selling advertising for CBS or whatever.  Now, what if Jabari got injured and never went pro?  Did the school make money on him?  Yes.  Did he capitalize?  Not with a pro contract.  But there is assumed risk in life, and that includes as a student athlete.  He was given an opportunity, paid for, with the possibility he could make virtually limitless income later if it went well. Isn't that enough?  Does he have to eat into the profits of the group giving him the opportunity too?  Is it such a crime that the school also gets theirs?

In the alternate, Jabari stays healthy and goes pro.  Lots of money there.  The other guy makes a good living selling ads for CBS.  But while they were both in college for that year, how do you pay them?  It has to be disproportionate, doesn't it?  How do you calculate that? Arguably, with the bigger star, maybe he gets a small cut on merchandise with his name or likeness.  But past that?  No way, not a dime. Did he help bring in other top tier recruits?  Maybe, maybe not.  Especially as a one-and-done.  It's not like a recruit is coming in to hit the floor with him.  The guy further down the bench who took the recruit out, got him a great meal, got him drunk, and got him some private time with that lovely young coed (yes they really still do that, just like when we were in school, lets not be naïve) may have had more to do with the recruit coming in.  How do you calculate and monetize that?

Colleges are businesses.  So are hospitals and tire manufacturers.  Each must make a profit to survive.  Non-profits?  That's a filing status, they still have to make enough to turn on the lights and pay the employees.  So these D1 universities need gobs of money to operate.  And they make a lot of it on the backs of the top tier of student athletes.  But there is an exchange of value.  The student athlete is getting the opportunity for advancement too.  Some will get rich, some will not, just like in any other walk of life.  Did Jabari get screwed because Duke made money on him the year he was there?  Or did Jabari get made for life by his year on campus?  I would submit to you that Jabari made, and will make, a multiple of anything Duke or the ACC made on him.  And he made it because of what he received as an amateur athlete.

Now I've got to go back to my capitalist money grabbing day.  As a student athlete, my school really lost money on me.  Besides the tiny amount of assistance I got, they also lost even more on the cost of baseballs that disappeared over the fence when I was pitching.  But hey, I got a degree and a great career.  I have no complaints at all in life, thanks in large measure to my time as the other guy student athlete no one heard of.  Well, one complaint.  I'm pretty certain Jabari is out-earning me.  OK, that's not a complaint, it's just envy.

Regards,

Your favorite Capitalist Pig

Creating barriers to monetize a students skills isn't capitalism.

Kyle,

Obviously, we don't share the same view, but that's what we're here for; to debate and enlighten each other.

What you're viewing as a barrier, I see as a classic exchange.

You come in and perform for me, so I can sell my program and keep it growing. I'll keep the profits, and in exchange, I'll carry you here at my institution until you decide to leave. I'll keep up my end of the bargain by supporting you win or loose, if you become a star or not. You're not obligated to a specific term. You can try and go pro, get a degree or both; you choose. When you leave, I hope your time with me helps propel you to a big contract for your services. This is a grant-in-exchange, not a loan. I make no prior claim on your future earnings.

I see the capitalist system at it's best. Everyone has the opportunity to profit, everyone has skin in the game.

Regards

NYCelt wrote:Well guys, you'll just have to call me the Capitalist Pig on this.  It's OK, I've heard it before.

Yes, the schools and conferences make a ton off the student athletes, but the student athlete gets a lot in return.

If you want to join me for just a moment in my dungeon, err... accounting department, what is made on average per student athlete is very little.  It's the collective group that counts.

So, yes, Jabari Parker made his school a bunch of money through jersey sales and all kinds of merchandizing.  But there were also scholarship guys that year that the school lost money on.  All got their various levels of tuition and other breaks, however.  Jabari went on to a big pro contract.  Others are selling advertising for CBS or whatever.  Now, what if Jabari got injured and never went pro?  Did the school make money on him?  Yes.  Did he capitalize?  Not with a pro contract.  But there is assumed risk in life, and that includes as a student athlete.  He was given an opportunity, paid for, with the possibility he could make virtually limitless income later if it went well. Isn't that enough?  Does he have to eat into the profits of the group giving him the opportunity too?  Is it such a crime that the school also gets theirs?

In the alternate, Jabari stays healthy and goes pro.  Lots of money there.  The other guy makes a good living selling ads for CBS.  But while they were both in college for that year, how do you pay them?  It has to be disproportionate, doesn't it?  How do you calculate that? Arguably, with the bigger star, maybe he gets a small cut on merchandise with his name or likeness.  But past that?  No way, not a dime. Did he help bring in other top tier recruits?  Maybe, maybe not.  Especially as a one-and-done.  It's not like a recruit is coming in to hit the floor with him.  The guy further down the bench who took the recruit out, got him a great meal, got him drunk, and got him some private time with that lovely young coed (yes they really still do that, just like when we were in school, lets not be naïve) may have had more to do with the recruit coming in.  How do you calculate and monetize that?

Colleges are businesses.  So are hospitals and tire manufacturers.  Each must make a profit to survive.  Non-profits?  That's a filing status, they still have to make enough to turn on the lights and pay the employees.  So these D1 universities need gobs of money to operate.  And they make a lot of it on the backs of the top tier of student athletes.  But there is an exchange of value.  The student athlete is getting the opportunity for advancement too.  Some will get rich, some will not, just like in any other walk of life.  Did Jabari get screwed because Duke made money on him the year he was there?  Or did Jabari get made for life by his year on campus?  I would submit to you that Jabari made, and will make, a multiple of anything Duke or the ACC made on him.  And he made it because of what he received as an amateur athlete.

Now I've got to go back to my capitalist money grabbing day.  As a student athlete, my school really lost money on me.  Besides the tiny amount of assistance I got, they also lost even more on the cost of baseballs that disappeared over the fence when I was pitching.  But hey, I got a degree and a great career.  I have no complaints at all in life, thanks in large measure to my time as the other guy student athlete no one heard of.  Well, one complaint.  I'm pretty certain Jabari is out-earning me.  OK, that's not a complaint, it's just envy.

Regards,

Your favorite Capitalist Pig

Capitalist Pig,

Are you related to Running Capitalist Dog?


bob


.