HOOP SCHEMES
FEDS BUST 10 IN NCAA PAY-TO-PLAY PROBE
A TWO-YEAR federal NCAA hoops probe exposed staggering charges of corruption at the sport’s top levels: Crooked assistant coaches. A conniving sneaker company exec.
And six-figure payoffs to high school recruits from two major universities — including perennial basketball powerhouse Louisville, according to court papers made public Tuesday.
The already problem-plagued hoops program headed by Coach Rick Pitino acknowledged it was involved in the federal probe of pay-for-play recruiting.
A detailed report made public Tuesday charges a top Louisville recruit was paid $100,000 to attend the university. The timeline in court papers made it clear the player was Brian Bowen, a much-coveted 6-foot-7 small forward.
“This is a serious concern that goes to the heart of our athletic department and the university,” said Louisville interim President Gregory Postel.
The best known of the 10 defendants nailed by prosecutors was former NBA star Chuck Person, a first-round draft pick of the Indiana Pacers in 1986 and a longtime tormentor of the Knicks.
Person, now the associate head coach at his alma mater, Auburn, was accused of taking bribes, along with assistants Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State, Emanuel Richardson of Arizona and Anthony Bland of USC.
“For the 10 charged men, the madness of college basketball went well beyond the Big Dance in March,” said Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim.
“Month after month, the defendants allegedly exploited the hoop dreams of student-athletes around the country.”
The other big fish snagged by the investigation: Adidas director of global sports marketing James Gatto. The 47-year-old Oregon man was nabbe d with two other defendants affiliated with the athletic wear company.
Gatto was involved in funneling $150,000 to the family of one high school hoops star and $100,000 to another player — apparently Bowen — in return for their play at specific universities, authorities charged.
Though the court papers did not identify the colleges or the recruits, a description provided in a federal complaint matched Louisville, a Kentucky public research university with 22,000 students.
The other school mentioned appeared to be fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Miami.
Court papers detailed a coach from the Bluegrass State college telling his co-conspirators inside a Las Vegas hotel room this past July that “we gotta be very lowkey.”
Louisville signed a 10-year, $160 million deal for sports apparel with Adidas this summer.
Pitino is already suspended for the first five ACC games of the upcoming year over a 2015 scandal involving strippers, prostitutes and his program.
A stunned NCAA President Mark Emmert said he only learned of the “deeply disturbing” charges Tuesday morning.