UM could be caught up in FBI probe into basketball corruption

‘University-7’ matches school profile

CORAL GABLES — A large-scale FBI probe into college basketball has resulted in federal corruption charges for 10 people nationwide, including four assistant coaches.

And though no Hurricanes coaches or players were named, court documents indicate the University of Miami and its men’s basketball program may be involved in one of the biggest stories to rock the sport in years.

“The picture of college basketball painted by the charges is not a pretty one,” said acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim at a news conference on

Tuesday. “Coaches at some of the nation’s top programs taking cash bribes, managers and advisers circling blue-chip prospects like coyotes, and employees of a global sportswear company funneling cash to families of high school recruits.”

The hope, officials said, is that the money would lead young basketball recruits to major college programs and in turn, have them later sign with apparel companies and agents once they began their professional careers.

Miami’s potential tie comes in a Department of Justice complaint referencing “University-7,” “Coach-3” and “Player-12.”

In the complaint filed against Jim Gatto, an executive at Adidas, an unnamed assistant coach from “University-7” was involved in trying to funnel approximately $150,000 to an unnamed high school basketball player expected to graduate in 2018.

“University-7” is described as a “private research university in Florida with approximately 16,000 students and over 2,600 faculty members” that is “one of the state’s largest universities” and “fields approximately 15 varsity sports in NCAA Division I competition.”

Last fall, Miami listed an official enrollment of 16,801 on its school website. According to the athletic department website, the school participates in 16 NCAA sports, including men’s basketball. Adidas is Miami’s official apparel partner, signing a 12-year deal with the school back in 2015.

No Miami coach or athlete was named in the complaint, though a “Coach-3” at “University-7” was referenced multiple times in his dealings with “Player-12,” the unnamed 2018 prospect.

Four assistant coaches were charged in conjunction with the probe: Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, Auburn University’s Chuck Person, Arizona’s Emanuel Richardson and USC’s Tony Bland.

Gatto, described in the complaint as the head of “Global Sports Marketing – Basketball for Company-1” was also among the 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court. Others included Merl Code, a second Adidas official; NBA agent Christian Dawkins; financial adviser Munish Sood and Jonathan Brad Augustine, who according to the Washington Post runs an Adidas-sponsored AAU basketball team in Florida.

“For the 10 charged men, the madness of college basketball went way beyond the Big Dance in March. Month after month, the defendants exploited the hoop dreams of student-athletes around the country, allegedly treating them as little more than opportunities to enrich themselves through bribery and fraud schemes,” Kim said.

In a statement Tuesday, Miami athletic director Blake James said: “The University of Miami is aware of the indictments handed down today by the Department of Justice involving several men’s college basketball programs, coaches, financial advisors, agents and apparel executives. As we are just learning the details, we cannot comment on the actions taken today by federal authorities. However, if requested, we will cooperate in any legal or NCAA review of the matter.”

The NCAA, which governs college athletics and imposes sanctions on teams or schools that violate its bylaws, was unaware of the FBI investigation, which began in 2015, until Tuesday.

By late in the day, NCAA president Mark Emmert issued a statement saying: “The nature of the charges brought by the federal government are deeply disturbing. We have no tolerance whatsoever for this alleged behavior. Coaches hold a unique position of trust with student-athletes and their families and these bribery allegations, if true, suggest an extraordinary and despicable breach of that trust. We learned of these charges this morning and of course will support the ongoing criminal federal investigation.”

While those facing charges are involved in a criminal investigation, there is no word yet on what kind of punishment they or their schools could face from the NCAA, though that will almost surely come in due time.

And Miami, which is potentially involved in the FBI probe, is no stranger to NCAA investigations.

Last October marked the end of a three-year probation period stemming from the investigation into the actions of rogue former booster Nevin Shapiro, a convicted Ponzi schemer who said he doled out thousands of dollars worth of improper benefits to Miami football and men’s basketball players for years.

In this case, others were allegedly involved in something just as troubling.

According to the Department of Justice complaint against Gatto, beginning in July and continuing through this month, Gatto, Code, Dawkins and Augustine were in communication with “one or more coaches at University-7” to help secure a verbal commitment from “Player-12” and later get him to sign with Dawkins and “Company-1.” Because “Company-1” could not pay the athlete or his family directly, the four defendants planned to conceal the payments through Code, Dawkins, and Augustine, as well as through Augustine’s AAU team.

On a wiretapped call intercepted by authorities in August, the DOJ says Dawkins and Code discussed paying “Player-12” and/or his family at the request of at least one coach at “University-7.” During that call, Dawkins and Code discussed the unnamed coach at “University-7” saying, “[Coach-3] knows everything” and that they could “start the process” to funnel the money to Player-12, the complaint says.

Later in the complaint, it says that in additional calls intercepted by authorities, Gatto and Code discussed, “among other things, Coach-3’s request to Gatto that Company-1 make a $150,000 payment to Player-12 in order to prevent Player-12 from committing to attend another NCAA Division I university sponsored by a rival athletic apparel company that allegedly had offered Player-12 a substantial sum of money.”

The complaint also states that on yet another intercepted call, Gatto requested that Code “negotiate the $150,000 asking price set by Player-12.” But, according to Code, if “[University-4]’s willing to pay the full $150,000, then ‘that’s where the kid is going to go.’”

The Hurricanes, who had one of their best basketball recruiting classes last year, currently do not have any verbal commitments from any 2018 prospects, though several athletes have made official visits to the campus in recent weeks or are scheduled to visit soon.

Among them is Orlando Christian Prep forward Nassir Little. According to his Twitter profile, Little is considering offers from Arizona, Miami, Duke, North Carolina and Georgia Tech.

He is one of the players listed on the roster for 1Family, the AAU team run by Augustine. None of the other players on that roster are listed among Miami’s recruiting targets on 247Sports.com, a website which tracks college basketball recruiting. The site reports Little is scheduled to make an official visit to Miami this weekend.

Both Miami and Georgia Tech are Adidas schools, while Arizona and Duke are Nike programs. North Carolina wears uniforms and gear provided by Nike’s Jumpman brand.

The Hurricanes men’s basketball team has been projected as a preseason Top 25 team by multiple media outlets leading up to the season, which begins in November.

College basketball teams across the country are scheduled to begin practicing for the 2017-18 season Friday.