Three found guilty in NCAA corruption trial

Three men were found guilty Wednesday of corrupting college basketball by paying young athletes to attend schools sponsored by sportswear giant Adidas, in violation of NCAA rules against enriching players.

A Manhattan federal jury delivered guilty verdicts against ex-Adidas executive James Gatto, ex-Adidas consultant Meryl Code and sports business agent Christian Dawkins following three days of deliberation.

Their lawyers never denied the men paid players to attend certain schools, but argued it wasn’t a crime because they were helping — not hurting — the schools they were accused of defrauding, including the University of Louisville, an Adidas-sponsored school. The men could face decades in prison when they are sentenced on March 5, although they are expected to get much less.

The trial, which kicked off Oct. 2, exposed the seedier side of college basketball with witnesses testifying that paying players, despite rules forbidding it, was common practice — and not just by Adidas.

Cooperating witness Brian Bowen Sr., for example, told the jury he has been getting paid under the table to send his talented son, Brian “Tugs” Bowen, to various teams and schools well before his son was ready to play college ball. And once it came time to pick a college to play for, the offers came pouring in from across the country, including the University of Arizona, Oklahoma State, Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. and the University of Texas.

Bowen testified under a non-prosecution agreement that Gatto, Code and Dawkins helped him get a deal for $100,000, funded through Adidas, for his son to attend Louisville.

His son was barred from playing NCAA ball following the arrests, which also lead to the firing of numerous coaches and assistant coaches including Louisville’s Rick Pitino, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

It was the first of three trials tied to the feds’ efforts to clean up the NCAA and had been closely watched as a litmus test by other the defendants, including ex-NBA star Chuck Person and three other former assistant coaches, who go on trial next year.