O’Quinn denies he took cash in college
Knicks center Kyle O’Quinn found himself caught in the middle of perhaps the biggest NCAA basketball scandal ever on Friday, but he denied any wrongdoing.
O’Quinn was one of more than 25 players whose name appeared in documents and bank statements obtained by the FBI and released by Yahoo Sports showing players who accepted some form of payment from agent Andy Miller and ASM Sports agency while in college.
The 27-year-old Knick center, who played at Norfolk State from 2008-12, received a so-called “loan” of $1,887.06, according to an ASM Sports balance sheet dated Dec. 31, 2015 and published by Yahoo.
“I haven’t seen much about it. I actually got a brief preview of it when I came to practice today. I don’t think I need an $1,800 loan the last couple years,” he said. “I’m doing okay.”
When followed up on if he took any money, O’Quinn immediately grew tired of the question.
“How many times you going to ask me that?” he snapped. “I said no, right?”
As O’Quinn ended his media session he turned back around to reporters and added, “you think I would have taken even $18 at Norfolk State? No.”
If O’Quinn did take money from Miller and ASM Sports it would violate NCAA amateurism rules and mean he would have been ineligible to play.
Yet Miller did not begin representing O’Quinn until the last few years.
When O’Quinn was drafted in 2012 he was represented by sports agent Albert Ebanks before eventually switching over to Miller.
Miller has represented O’Quinn since he was acquired by the Knicks via a sign and trade in July 2015 and O’Quinn had nothing but good things to say about the agent embroiled in the scandal.
“What I can say is Andy Miller is a good guy, a good family guy, a wonderful agent to me and the guys he represents,” O’Quinn said. “So the only thing I can speak on is his character. How he stood in front of my family, looked us in the eye and told us what he was going to deliver and he did.”
O’Quinn was part of the 2011-12 Norfolk State team that upset No. 2 seed Missouri as a 15-seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The scandal includes 20 Division I basketball programs, including both current and former players. Several powerhouse programs, such as Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas and Michigan State are implicated.
There are also three criminal cases tied to the investigation, which the FBI has been conducting for at least two years.
Several NCAA coaches and sneaker executives have already been arrested and charged with crimes such as wire fraud.
Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek said he was not shocked by the bombshell report, but said he also does not know a whole lot about it.
“Is it surprising? I don’t know if it’s surprising,” he said. “It seems there’s a lot that goes on. I haven’t been in the college game in a long time so I probably don’t fully understand it but I’m sure it happens.”