Trial expected to explore ‘underbelly’ of college basketball

NEW YORK — When Brian Bowen Jr., one of America’s brightest high school basketball stars, announced in June 2017 that he would attend the University of Louisville, a school that had not been on anyone’s radar as his possible destination, sportswriters called it a coup that “came out of nowhere.” Louisville coach Rick Pitino agreed.

“In my 40 years of coaching,” he said, “this is the luckiest I’ve been.”

In a trial that began Monday, federal prosecutors will argue that the signing wasn’t luck at all but the result of a payoff to Bowen’s father.

Former sports agent Christian Dawkins, former Amateur Athletic Union coach Merl Code and former Adidas executive James Gatto have all pleaded not guilty to charges they plotted to pay Bowen’s father $100,000 in exchange for his son’s promise to commit to Louisville. A jury was being selected Monday with opening statements set for Tuesday.

It is the first trial related to an FBI investigation that exposed the sleazy side of big money in college basketball and led to charges against multiple people involved in making payments to student athletes. Other defendants, including former assistant coaches from Arizona, Auburn, Southern Cal and Oklahoma State, face separate trials.

Neither Bowen, now 19, nor his father, Brian Bowen Sr., has been charged. Nor has Pitino, who was fired by Louisville along with athletic director Tom Jurich after the investigation became public.

The indictment says Adidas played a role in helping lure star players to its affiliated teams and keep them from going to teams sponsored by competitors like Nike. It also includes allegations that recruiters talked about using money from Adidas to pay two other families of prized high school basketball recruits, besides Bowen.