Father of recruit testifies on payment from assistant coach

The father of a blue-chip college basketball recruit testified Tuesday that an assistant coach at Louisville gave him a secret payment of $1,300 as part of a deal to get the son to sign with the school.

At a criminal trial in New York about corruption in big-time basketball, Brian Bowen Sr. described setting up two meetings with assistant Kenny Johnson via text in 2017 to try to collect cash, in violation of school and NCAA rules.

Bowen testified that the first time, Johnson was “shocked” and “flabbergasted” when he told him that defendant Christian Dawkins had promised that the coach would help the father with paying rent. The next time, he said, Johnson handed over $1,300 — reluctantly.

“He made it clear that this was a one-time deal for him,” Bowen said. “He said Louisville didn’t pay basketball players.”

The testimony about the recruitment of Brian Bowen Jr. came in a case that prompted Louisville to fire Johnson and its legendary coach, Rick Pitino. Johnson is now an assistant at La Salle.

Award: Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger will receive the John R. Wooden Legends of Coaching honor next spring.

The award is given annually to college basketball coaches who exemplify the late UCLA legend’s standard of success and personal integrity. He is the first Division I coach to take five different schools to the NCAA Tournament, including UNLV.

UCLA: Bruins freshman guard Tyger Campbell has a torn ACL in his left knee and will miss the upcoming season.