Whoa.

In addition to these coaches: The "major international sportswear company" is Adidas. Their head of sports marketing is charged with "making and concealing bribe payments to high school student athletes and/or their families" to get the kids to sign with college teams identified in the indictment as "University-6" and "University-7".

Other schools may be implicated in addition to those whose coaches are mentioned in the article. For example, one of the coaches indicted, Tony Bland, was a longtime assistant to Steve Fisher at SDSU before moving to USC a few years ago.

https://apnews.com/d11ec527467340baaa63d..._medium=AP

Quote:NEW YORK (AP) — Four college basketball coaches were among those facing federal charges Tuesday in a wide probe of fraud and corruption in the NCAA, authorities said.

The coaches were identified in court papers as Chuck Person of Auburn University, Emanuel Richardson of the University of Arizona, Tony Bland of the University of Southern California and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State. They are in federal custody and expected to make court appearances later Tuesday.

They were among 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court. Others included managers, financial advisers and representatives of a major international sportswear company. The details were to be discussed at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

There's more. The head of Nike's "elite youth league" is also indicted for paying players and steering them to certain college teams.

Under Armour is probably implicated as well. Auburn/Bruce Pearl is with Under Armour.

And because none of the indicted coaches are with adidas teams, there are adidas-sponsored teams that are going to be in trouble as well.

Ruh-roh, Louisville. Looks like Pitino's finger might be in this cookie jar as well...

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...n-charges/

Quote:Jim Gatto, director of global sports marketing for Adidas, was among those arrested. He's accused of helping funnel approximately $100,000 to the family of an "All-American high school basketball player" to secure the prospect's commitment to a school Adidas sponsors. According to documents, the prospect committed in June. The only "All-American high school basketball player" who committed to a school Adidas sponsors in June is Brian Bowen. He's now enrolled at Louisville.

And a little more detail on the indicted coaches, from the same article:

Quote:Person is accused of, among other things, accepting payments from an agent who was trying to development a business relationship with Auburn's Austin Wiley and his family. The sophomore center was a top-40 prospect coming out of high school. Richardson, Evans and Bland are accused of similar crimes.

(09-26-2017 10:07 AM)Wedge Wrote:  Ruh-roh, Louisville. Looks like Pitino's finger might be in this cookie jar as well...

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basket...n-charges/

Quote:Jim Gatto, director of global sports marketing for Adidas, was among those arrested. He's accused of helping funnel approximately $100,000 to the family of an "All-American high school basketball player" to secure the prospect's commitment to a school Adidas sponsors. According to documents, the prospect committed in June. The only "All-American high school basketball player" who committed to a school Adidas sponsors in June is Brian Bowen. He's now enrolled at Louisville.

And a little more detail on the indicted coaches, from the same article:

Quote:Person is accused of, among other things, accepting payments from an agent who was trying to development a business relationship with Auburn's Austin Wiley and his family. The sophomore center was a top-40 prospect coming out of high school. Richardson, Evans and Bland are accused of similar crimes.

Since the locus is the apparel companies expect this thread to unravel into football, baseball, and every other sport where stars have the ability to push a brand. In short this is just the tip of the iceberg of corruption permeating collegiate athletics.

My question is why start with Adidas and Nike? The FBI should have had far more pressing work in 2008-9 with Goldman Sachs and the others too big to fail! I guess the problem there was that Senators, Representatives, and Presidents who had received PAC and Lobby money were involved instead of representatives of major sportswear companies. One involves bribes for product placement. The other involved taxing the citizens to pay for their fellow citizens failed mortgages which had been broken up into untraceable fragments for the purposes of inflating balance sheets. And once the banks were paid by the citizens the foreclosures still occurred and the homes were resold at a profit paying the banks twice, debiting the innocent citizens, foreclosing on the victims of spurious loans, and letting the crooks double dip without prosecution.

Gotta love America, I guess. We sure don't seem to have the balls to police it. At least not when millions in payouts are on the line for our leaders.

No doubt other sports are involved, but basketball is the most vulnerable because of the one-and-done rule. Short time frame between funneling a player to a school and the time he turns pro.

Look at the Louisville signee implicated in these indictments. He signed with Louisville in June 2017. If he actually plays at Louisville -- which is just as much up in the air now as the question of whether Pitino ever coaches another game -- then he can turn pro and sign with an agent (like the one named in the indictments) after Louisville's season ends in March 2018.

Quick turnaround for a one-and-done player. Less than a year from when an athlete's family gets the first payment until the day he signs on the bottom line with his NBA agent and shoe company.

And yes, given that adidas, Nike, and Under Armour are all implicated in various ways, no college team whose coaches pursue elite players is safe from the fallout.

This probe is going to expand to every other sport as well. Where it ends up, I've no clue, but I am certain of this, there will be people who will be cheering wildly when this commotion settles.

Quote:Tom Winter
@Tom_Winter

NEW: FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office establishes special phone number for information RELEVANT to NCAA investigation, 212-384-2135.

9:28 AM - 26 Sep 2017

If Auburn was on fire I'd root for the fire (not really) and I don't give a flying **** about this.

I see this as a great waste of Federal enforcement resources.

University-6 = Louisville.

This paragraph describes a meeting that was videotaped.

Just when I was hoping that NC State would finally join the kickback game, the FEDs raid the party. Oh well.

(09-26-2017 12:58 PM)Wedge Wrote:  University-6 = Louisville.

This paragraph describes a meeting that was videotaped.

I've never seen a Federal Agency or Court document utilize that font.

More documents from this case. Same font. Not sure why it would matter.

(09-26-2017 09:28 AM)Wedge Wrote:  Whoa.

In addition to these coaches: The "major international sportswear company" is Adidas. Their head of sports marketing is charged with "making and concealing bribe payments to high school student athletes and/or their families" to get the kids to sign with college teams identified in the indictment as "University-6" and "University-7".

Other schools may be implicated in addition to those whose coaches are mentioned in the article. For example, one of the coaches indicted, Tony Bland, was a longtime assistant to Steve Fisher at SDSU before moving to USC a few years ago.

https://apnews.com/d11ec527467340baaa63d..._medium=AP

Quote:NEW YORK (AP) — Four college basketball coaches were among those facing federal charges Tuesday in a wide probe of fraud and corruption in the NCAA, authorities said.

The coaches were identified in court papers as Chuck Person of Auburn University, Emanuel Richardson of the University of Arizona, Tony Bland of the University of Southern California and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State. They are in federal custody and expected to make court appearances later Tuesday.

They were among 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court. Others included managers, financial advisers and representatives of a major international sportswear company. The details were to be discussed at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

There's more. The head of Nike's "elite youth league" is also indicted for paying players and steering them to certain college teams.

Under Armour is probably implicated as well. Auburn/Bruce Pearl is with Under Armour.

And because none of the indicted coaches are with adidas teams, there are adidas-sponsored teams that are going to be in trouble as well.

Where did you read about the Nike guy?

Nike has about 2/3 of the P5.

(09-26-2017 12:58 PM)Wedge Wrote:  University-6 = Louisville.

This paragraph describes a meeting that was videotaped.

At least SMU was continuing to cheat in order to honor "commitments" to existing players.

This just screams death penalty if the NCAA ever gives it again. UL and Pitino need to be shut down.

(09-26-2017 01:17 PM)Wedge Wrote:  More documents from this case. Same font. Not sure why it would matter.

The internet is filled with BS.

Most court documents filed follow strict rules on font and type-size etc.

The snapshot of the one raised a red flag for me.

(09-26-2017 01:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  Where did you read about the Nike guy?

Nike has about 2/3 of the P5.

USC and Arizona are Nike-sponsored.

Also...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketb...corruption

Quote:Merl Code, who recently left Nike for Adidas

Quote:In a sworn statement from FBI agent John Vourderis, he wrote: "I have learned that in or around May of 2017, at the request of at least once coach from University-6, Dawkins, James Gatto, a/k/a "Jim," Merl Code, Munish Sood, the defendants, and other agreed to funnel $100,000 (payable in four installments) from Company-1 to the family of Player-10. Shortly after the agreement with the family of Player-10 was reached in late May or early June, Player-10 publicly committed to University-6."

But Nike says Code left a few years ago...

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index...arged.html

Quote:Code once headed a junior basketball league for Nike. In a July 2013 letter from Code to participants in a LeBron James Skills Academy, Code identified himself as elite youth director of Nike basketball. He left Nike three years ago, the company said.

By the way, from the same article, and not related to Nike... is Miami the "Adidas-sponsored school in Florida"?

Quote:Gatto, 47, allegedly engineered payments of $100,000 to the family of a Kentucky high school player in return for attending Louisville and participated in another $150,000 bribe to another player to convince him to attend an Adidas-sponsored school in Florida.

The University of Louisville president confirms that Louisville is a subject to this investigation.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(09-26-2017 01:07 PM)HeartOfDixie Wrote:  

(09-26-2017 12:58 PM)Wedge Wrote:  University-6 = Louisville.

This paragraph describes a meeting that was videotaped.

I've never seen a Federal Agency or Court document utilize that font.

Is that Currior?

(09-26-2017 01:02 PM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  Just when I was hoping that NC State would finally join the kickback game, the FEDs raid the party. Oh well.

It ain't over. Gottfried mysteriously landed some very good recruits. Sure, he never did anything with them but he still got them.

(09-26-2017 01:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(09-26-2017 01:18 PM)bullet Wrote:  Where did you read about the Nike guy?

Nike has about 2/3 of the P5.

USC and Arizona are Nike-sponsored.

Also...

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketb...corruption

Quote:Merl Code, who recently left Nike for Adidas

Quote:In a sworn statement from FBI agent John Vourderis, he wrote: "I have learned that in or around May of 2017, at the request of at least once coach from University-6, Dawkins, James Gatto, a/k/a "Jim," Merl Code, Munish Sood, the defendants, and other agreed to funnel $100,000 (payable in four installments) from Company-1 to the family of Player-10. Shortly after the agreement with the family of Player-10 was reached in late May or early June, Player-10 publicly committed to University-6."

But Nike says Code left a few years ago...

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index...arged.html

Quote:Code once headed a junior basketball league for Nike. In a July 2013 letter from Code to participants in a LeBron James Skills Academy, Code identified himself as elite youth director of Nike basketball. He left Nike three years ago, the company said.

By the way, from the same article, and not related to Nike... is Miami the "Adidas-sponsored school in Florida"?

Quote:Gatto, 47, allegedly engineered payments of $100,000 to the family of a Kentucky high school player in return for attending Louisville and participated in another $150,000 bribe to another player to convince him to attend an Adidas-sponsored school in Florida.

Miami is the P5 Adidas school in Florida.

(09-26-2017 02:57 PM)Wolfman Wrote:  

(09-26-2017 01:02 PM)lumberpack4 Wrote:  Just when I was hoping that NC State would finally join the kickback game, the FEDs raid the party. Oh well.

It ain't over. Gottfried mysteriously landed some very good recruits. Sure, he never did anything with them but he still got them.

NCSU is Adidas. As many as have been involved so far, I imagine every Adidas P5 school is involved.