Multiple College Basketball Programs are Screwed After FBI Investigation
BREAKING: Government charging 10 people (4 college coaches & reps of “major international sportswear company”) with fraud & corruption.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 26, 2017
Names in alleged corruption scandal: Auburn’s Chuck Person, Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans & Jim Gatto, head of sports marketing at adidas.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 26, 2017
Feds: adidas head of sports marketing Jim Gatto, with others, paid high school players to go to adidas schools, then sign with adidas later.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 26, 2017
Agent said to be involved in kickback scheme, Christian Dawkins, was fired by ASM for running up $42,000 in Uber charges on player’s dime.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 26, 2017
Two alleged payments to high school players that FBI details, which included adidas head of sports marketing, totaled as much as $250,000.
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) September 26, 2017
WOAH! There is a lot is going on here, let’s try to break it down.
The FBI announced today that they arrested four assistant coaches for breaking federal fraud and corruption laws. These coaches are Emanuel Richardson (Arizona), Chuck Pearson (Auburn), Lamont Evans (Oklahoma State), and Tony Bland (USC). U.S. Atty. Joon Kim said in a press conference today that the NCAA was unaware of their investigation of this offense until today.
Among the coaches, Chuck Pearson is being accused of taking multiple payments from an agent who was trying to build a relationship with Auburn center Austin Wiley and his family. The other coaches who were charged reportedly committed similar crimes, according to CBS Sports.
The other half of this investigation, and maybe my favorite part, includes Adidas director of global sports marketing Jim Gatto. Gatto was arrested this morning for allegedly funneling payments to the families of athletes to secure that their athlete commits to an Adidas school. That payment also would secure that the athlete would then commit to signing an endorsement deal with Adidas when they reach the NBA. Here is the court document:
Reading between lines not so hard: this details how Louisville got commitment from All-American Brian Bowen in June — for $100K: pic.twitter.com/azXgMKYIl8
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) September 26, 2017
So the University of Louisville and scum bag that is Rick Pitino are up to their scandalous recruiting tactics yet again. While Louisville hasn’t been charged yet, Darren Rovell confirmed on ESPN that Louisville is, in fact, the University this court document is referring to. Let’s connect some dots:
Happy To Announce My Commitment To The Ville ‼️Let’s get ittttt🔴⚫️#L1C4 pic.twitter.com/ybLxFQTgZ2
— Brian Bowen II 🏀 (@20tugs) June 3, 2017
Brian Bowen announced his commitment to Louisville on June 3rd via his Twitter. I would consider June 3rd to be early June, so check that box off.
Louisville is, in fact, an Adidas school. You can check that box off as well.
Darren Rovell said on ESPN today that the school, while not yet charged, is located in Kentucky. Louisville is located in Kentucky. If you’re still keeping score at home, check off another box.
Also worth noting, Donovan Mitchell, who went to Louisville before being taken in this years NBA draft, signed with Adidas as soon as he was eligible to do so. Louisville doesn’t produce a lot of top-tier NBA talent, so it makes sense that as soon as they actually do, he committed to sign with Adidas. Who knows how long this scandal could have been going on.
So why do I love this so much? I can’t stand Rick Pitino. I am convinced to this day that he lied about the whole sex scandal thing that hit Louisville a few years back. I also think he got INCREDIBLY lucky to get out of that without much of a scratch.
If and when Louisville is confirmed to be the school being charged in the second part of this scandal, he and the program are so screwed. Louisville is already on probation for the sex scandal, one can only assume they will get the death penalty from the NCAA after learning about this. And for Pitino, he will more than likely be out of a job. I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat to see that happen.
For the other schools involved, they are all screwed as well. This kind of shit happens in college sports all the time because the athletes aren’t paid. If they were, there really wouldn’t be much incentive for these guys to break the law. It takes a real dumbass to actually get caught doing it.
Written By: Nick Cherico (@NickCherico2)