Updated at 3:18 p.m. ET
Federal investigators announced charges Tuesday in a wide-scale corruption scheme in college basketball.
Federal court documents implicate university and amateur coaches, officials with Adidas and several college athletic programs.
Court documents imply that the University of Louisville was part of the investigation, which includes a secretly recorded meeting in which one university coach allegedly discusses illegal payments to a recruit’s family.
U of L did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Update
The interim president of the University of Louisville has acknowledged that the school is included in a federal criminal investigation of men’s basketball recruiting. Dr. Greg Postel said in a statement this afternoon that the school was just learning about the investigation and will cooperate fully with federal officials and the NCAA.
In a complaint filed in New York, officials allege that two unnamed U of L coaches conspired with the Adidas apparel company this year to funnel money to a highly sought after recruit. It’s part of a larger investigation into allegations that an Adidas executive bribed assistant coaches and used other parties to bribe recruits to attend Adidas sponsored schools or align themselves with financial advisors connected with the company.
Four assistant coaches have also been arrested. No one from U of L has been criminally charged. Joon Kim is an acting U.S. Attorney in New York.
“The defendants’ alleged conduct not only sullied the spirit of amateur athletics, but is showed contempt for the thousands of players and coaches who follow the rules and play the game the right way,” said Kim.
U of L is currently appealing NCAA penalties handed down in connection with a prostitution scandal involving the men’s basketball program. In his statement, U of L interim president Greg Postel said the school is “committed to ethical behavior and adherence to NCAA rules; any violations will not be tolerated.”
The Court Case
In all, four college basketball coaches, three sports managers and three employees of a major sportswear company, were charged in federal court in Manhattan.
The investigation revealed the “dark underbelly of college basketball” where coaches, managers and sportswear companies “exploited the hoop dreams of students from around the country,” said Joon H. Kim, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
“Managers, advisors, and those affiliated with the sportswear company worked together to funnel money to families of some of the country's top high school recruits upwards of $100,000 for the players’ commitment to play for the schools sponsored by that company,” said Kim.
Ten people were charged in Manhattan federal court. Four coaches — 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 — were in federal custody and expected to make court appearances later today.
“University 6” — University of Louisville
The federal complaint describes a Kentucky Division 1 athletics program with the exact number of students enrolled at U of L. The complaint describes two scenarios where an Adidas staffer secured payments for families of university recruits.
In one instance, an Adidas employee arranged for $100,000 and ongoing monthly payments that was allegedly funneled through a third-party company for a then-commit, who is currently a freshman athlete.
In another, the defendants and a coach discuss securing support for the family of a student high school who would ultimately commit to to the coach’s school.
In wiretapped conversations recorded in June, the defendants described University 6 as a “flagship school” they needed to take care of with top players.
“This is kind of one of those instances where we needed to step up and help one of our flagship schools in [University 6], you know, secure a five star caliber kid,” one affiliate of the shoe company allegedly said in a phone call recorded by the FBI. “Obviously that helps, you know, our potential business.”
U of L’s Relationship With Adidas
U of L has among the most lucrative of Adidas’s sponsorship contracts. Athletic director Tom Jurich last month announced a $160 million contract renewal that spans 10 years.
“When we began our relationship with Adidas nearly 20 years ago, we weren’t in the same shape we are now,” said Jurich, in a news release. “Adidas has stood arm and arm with us through adversity and success.”
University Coaches
The federal complaints link two University 6 coaches to the scheme, but don’t identify them by name.
One — an assistant coached identified as “Coach 1” — talked directly with Adidas reps and others about getting support for a recruit. The vaunted high school athlete was a top ten player in the country expected to graduate high school in 2019.
One secretly recorded meeting — between the coach, two defendants, an undercover agent and a cooperating witness — took place in a Las Vegas hotel room.
“We gotta be very low key,” the coach allegedly said, noting the school was on NCAA probation.
In this conversation, the men discussed another coach, identified in the federal complaint as “Coach 2.” This coach was described as a staffer with significant influence at the shoe and apparel company.
In a conversation about whether the company would continue to pay a high school recruit’s family going forward, one of the defendants allegedly said, “no one swings a bigger **** than (Coach 2)” at Adidas, saying all he had to do was “pick up the phone and call somebody.”
Cooperating Witness 1
The complaint repeatedly cites a cooperating witness, someone who has been working with federal investigators since 2014. That person isn’t named, but the complaint said the person settled civil charges with the SEC on May 6, 2016.
On that day, the SEC announced it filed fraud charges against Pittsburgh, Penn.-based financial adviser Louis Martin Blazer III.
He was accused of taking money without permission from the accounts of several professional athletes in order to invest in movie projects and make Ponzi-like payments, according to the SEC.
The SEC alleges that Blazer, who founded Blazer Capital Management as a “concierge” firm targeting professional athletes and other high-net worth individuals as clients, took approximately $2.35 million from five clients without their authorization so he could invest in two movie projects.
Blazer agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations. Federal court records show he also pleaded guilty last month to federal charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and making false statements pursuant to a cooperation agreement with the Government.
Rick Pitino On Adidas And Recruiting
Coach Rick Pitino previously weighed in on the role that shoe companies play in university athletics, saying he’d like them to get out of the recruiting business.
“Adidas has never one time gotten me a basketball player in my 15 years here,” Pitino said in a May 2016 press conference. “Nike or Under Armour they will — not do anything wrong — but when those players go to those camps you know what schools are Nike schools and Under Armour schools and they go after. Adidas is just not like that. They don’t promote their schools to recruits. They just don’t do that. Maybe it’s more because they are more of a European outfit. Adidas has never one time directed a player my way. And I never once asked them to help.”
Pitino later joked about recruiting.
“Yeah, I’d like some players sent my way,” he said sarcastically. “Nah. Like I said this a few years ago. I’d like to get the shoe companies out of the recruiting business completely. I don’t think kids should choose schools based on shoes.”
— Staff reporters Kate Howard, Rick Howlett and Eleanor Klibanoff contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press was also used.
Updated 9/26/2017 at 3:18pm ET
