School president ‘alarmed’ to learn basketball staffer is part of FBI report.
CORAL GABLES — University of Miami President Julio Frenk confirmed Wednesday night that the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating a tie between a UM basketball staff member and a potential recruit, stemming from a bombshell report the FBI released Tuesday.
“While we are alarmed and disappointed, we are steadfast in our belief that we must also act with the highest level of integrity and commitment to the pursuit of truth,” Frenk wrote in a letter addressed to the “University of Miami Family.”
“To that end, we have pledged our full and complete cooperation with the Department of Justice probe as well as to the NCAA, with whom we will jointly review any relevant matters. The legal process and any NCAA joint review will likely take some time, so I urge patience for all who love our University.
“We are a strong institution, and I can assure you that we will do what is right, even if doing so is hard.”
Neither UM nor any employee was named in Tuesday’s report on the indictment of 10 people, including four assistant coaches at major schools, after a two-year FBI investigation into “bribery, corruption and fraud” in college basketball. On Wednesday, Louisville placed Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino on unpaid administrative leave, a move Pitino’s lawyer said means his client was “effectively fired.”
A school called “University-7”
in the FBI report matches Miami’s profile, and a “Coach-3” is believed to be a UM staff member. According to the report, that coach had some involvement in a bidding war for a recruit. The player is believed to be fivestar forward Nassir Little, and the competing school is believed to be Arizona.
Arizona assistant Emanuel “Book” Richardson was one of four coaches arrested Tuesday, along with Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, Auburn’s Chuck Person and USC’s Tony Bland.
The complaint also names James Gatto, director of global sports marketing at Adidas; Merl Code, who recently left Nike for Adidas; budding NBA agent Christian Dawkins; financial adviser Munish Sood; Rashan Michel, a former NBA official and clothier; and Jonathan Brad Augustine, program director of the Adidas-sponsored 1 Family AAU team — a team Little plays for.
UM Athletic Director Blake James said in a statement Tuesday the school would comply with any legal or NCAA direction in the matter. The lawyer for UM basketball coach Jim Larranaga said Tuesday night in an email to the Post that his client did nothing wrong.
The Hurricanes’ basketball team opens practice Friday.
On Wednesday morning after his team’s practice, Hurricanes football coach Mark Richt was asked about the FBI’s revelation and what it means to all college sports. In his 17th season leading a major football program, Richt, knows it is a never-ending fight to stay abreast of the rules.
“I’m sure they (the federal agents) know what they’re talking about,” Richt said. “I doubt they’re making up stories. Bottom line is, if people aren’t behaving like they should, whether it’s players, whether it’s coaches, whether it’s business people or whatever it is, there needs to be consequences. If everybody makes good decisions to discipline things the way they should be and there’s consequences for what happened, then things can get cleaned up rather quickly, I think. That’s just part of it.”
Richt said he believes there are more programs doing things right than wrong, though he admitted even his own has “mess[ed] up.”
Here’s what he said, when asked if the college game needs to be “cleaned up”:
“I’m sure it’s program-by-program. I don’t think every basketball program is doing things they shouldn’t do. I don’t think every football program is doing it. I think there’s a lot more doing things right than doing things wrong. You just read about these.”
He was then asked if Tuesday’s news was a reminder to be “cognizant of the rules.”
“For me personally, I say no, because that’s all we care about is doing it right,” he said. “Do we ever mess up? We mess up. And so yeah, should we be even more sharp in our rules and all that kind of thing? Yes. More heightened awareness? Yes. But we hope, and we think, we have a heightened awareness all the time.
“You just never know.”
LAKE OKEECHOBEE
■ Though the water level is up and the water a bit dirty after all the rain from Hurricane Irma, the fishing has been excellent. ■ Live shiners have been the go-to bait for many anglers, but artificial is also working well.
■ All fishing report information courtesy of Snook Nook in
Jensen Beach, Fishing Headquarters in Jupiter, Capt. Bruce Cyr and Capt. Mark King.