Basketball bribe plea tailor-made

An Atlanta suitmaker and former NBA referee pleaded guilty Tuesday to bribing ex-Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person in the hopes he’d help him land players as customers.

Rashan Michel, 44, apologized in Manhattan Federal Court while admitting his role in a scheme to bribe coaches in exchange for them directing top players to select financial advisers. Michel (inset) specialized in bespoke suits for professional athletes and arranged a meeting between Person and a financial adviser offering $91,500 in bribes, prosecutors said. Michel received over $24,000 for his role helping broker the deal from the adviser, who cooperated with the government.

Person is awaiting sentencing after recently pleading guilty to the same charge of bribery conspiracy.

Michel’s plea marks a final chapter in the government’s cases, announced in 2017, involving NCAA corruption. Nine people charged, including Person, three other coaches and an Adidas executive, have been found guilty.

“As he admitted today, Rashan Michel was paid to facilitate bribe payments from a financial adviser to college basketball coaches. His corruption of the system was significant but, sadly, far from unique,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said.

“We will continue to pursue those who offer or take bribes to influence student-athletes without regard to their interest.”

As Michel spoke, a jury deliberated in a separate courtroom in the same building whether to convict two basketball insiders of bribing college coaches in a related case.

The insiders, aspiring sports agent Christian Dawkins and Adidas consultant Merl Code, have already been sentenced to six months each for bribing the father of a top prospect to attend the University of Louisville.