7 D1 MBB Assistants Arrested for Fraud/Corruption

[Dukie]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/pr ... advisory-2

Based on the sometimes-cryptic descriptions (e..g, "public university in South Carolina with enrollment >30,000", it looks like the schools *might* be:

Auburn
Louisville
Miami
South Carolina
Ok St
USC
Arizona

Death Penalty risk for the Ville?

[One Trick Pony]

Hoop man go's down with Under Armour?

[Pony ^]

uh oh Adidas. I'm am soooo shocked that Bruce Pearl and Pitino are caught up in corruption again.

On another note, if the students get educated on the USC side of the story....Moody will be quite interesting behind the USC bench in December.

[One Trick Pony]

Well you don't have to guess just scroll down to the PDF attachments at the bottom - Chuck Connors at Auburn the big one

[stc9]

Someone associated with Bruce Pearl is corrupt? I'm shocked!

What is the over/under on how long the NCAA investigation will take following this?

Potential NCAA penalties for these programs:
A) A sternly worded form letter of reprimand.

B) The programs will receive a strong facial expression of condemnation from Mark Emmert.

C) All "professional companions" for recruiting visits will be suspended for these programs on Tuesday afternoons, but shall resume immediately prior to dinner and continue as otherwise scheduled.

D) Each team shall vacate 1 or potentially 2, for the most egregious offenders, wins from the 1974 schedule. However, as the coach from the 1974 season was not involved in these infractions his record will not be changed. Further, since updating the web page could cost the schools additional money - No change will be required in any printed or electronic form.

E) As recompense to these team's conference mates for these offenses, each school will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA basketball tournament. These new automatic bids will come at the expense of mid majors.

[FriscoPMG]

Dan Wetzel's Yahoo story on it...
https://sports.yahoo.com/fbi-probe-uncovers-massive-college-basketball-scandal-snaring-big-time-programs-144631716.html

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.

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.

[One Trick Pony]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.busine ... sts-2017-9

[PK]

Speaking of investigations and penalties...how's North Carolina doing these days.

[Dukie]

Speaking of investigations and penalties...how's North Carolina doing these days.

Penalties should be announced in something like 1-3 months, but no hard and fast timeline for this last stage of the (pre-litigation) process. I'm counting on the SEC guy chairing the penalties committee to slam them.

[Stallion]

Can't wait for the subpoenas and deposition notices to start flying. This is going to rock the College Basketball world because the Feds have discovery tools and sanctions that the NCAA does not have and we ALL KNOW this is going on. Witnesses will flip and this likely will be an investigation that expands

[One Trick Pony]

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/bask ... class/2017

DeAndre Ayton

[Prideful Pony]

Can't wait for the subpoenas and deposition notices to start flying. This is going to rock the College Basketball world because the Feds have discovery tools and sanctions that the NCAA does not have and we ALL KNOW this is going on. Witnesses will flip and this likely will be an investigation that expands

Exactly my first thoughts. With a clear paper trail they have the leverage to flip witnesses and this investigation will exponentially grow. Hints of the US investigation into FIFA about it. Going to get ugly.

[Pony81]

Too many prominent programs involved which means the NCAA will try to sweep it under the rug.... Likely with a procedural issue of some sort. The assistant coaches will swing but the universities won't get punished severely.

Just imagine the call from the NCAA to UL.... "Cmon guys, hookers now outright bribes", we're really having a tough time keeping you in the tournament. Promise you will stop!

[Stallion]

NCAA isn't going to have much to do with this-federal prosecutors will take the lead. NCAA should abstain from its own investigation like they should have with Baylor/Penn St. No witness is going to talk to the NCAA while they are under threat of self-incrimination to federal prosecutors-therefore any NCAA investigation would ineffective and unhelpful. All the NCAA can do is wait for the federal investigation and prosecution to proceed to at least a findings if not judgment stage.

[One Trick Pony]

They won't bite the hand that feeds them