Villanova

according to published reports. Richardson was put on paid leave Sept. 26, indicted by a federal grand jury on several criminal charges including conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud in November and fired on Jan. 11, according to published reports.

According to documents in the case, “(Undercover Agent)-1, working with Christian Dawkins and Munish Sood, the defendants, paid and/or facilitated the payment of $20,000 in bribes to Emanuel Richardson, a/k/a ‘Book,’ the defendant, some of which Richardson appears to have kept for himself and some of which he appears to have provided to at least one prospective high school basketball player (‘Player-5’) in order to recruit Player-5 to play for University-4. In exchange for the bribe payments, Richardson agreed to use his influence over the student-athletes he coached to pressure them to retain Dawkins and Sood as a manager and financial advisor, respectively.”

Those documents allege that a $15,000 payment went to Player 5, “who verbally committed to attend” Arizona “on or about Aug. 9, 2017.” Quinerly committed to Arizona Aug. 8. Quinerly was not identify by name in the indictment it is unclear if he every received any money.

Quinerly’s family hired an attorney and he has not commented on the matter. At a USA Basketball event last October, Quinerly did say that neither he nor his family had heard from federal investigators, Yahoo Sports reported.

Yahoo Sports also reported that Villanova hired an outside law firm to examine the case after Quinerly’s family reached out to the coaching staff after the federal probe became public last September.

“Based on the information they have and the due diligence that they did, they think he’s got a very good chance to play,” a source with knowledge of the recruitment told Yahoo Sports.

Under NCAA regulations, Villanova coach Jay Wright and his staff is forbidden from talking about recruits until they sign a national letter of intent. The next signing period begins April 11.

“All I can say is that we are recruiting him,” Villanova athletic director Mark Jackson said when reached by phone.

Quinerly is considered one of the top prospects in the Class of 2018. He is ranked 25th national by 247Sports, and 26th by both ESPN and Rivals. Quinerly is ranked as the fifth best point guard prospect in the class by 247Sports, sixth by ESPN and seventh by Rivals.

Quinerly is averaging 19.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game for the Hawks, who are are 17-4 overall and in first place in the Hudson County Interscholastic Athletic League with a 12-0 record. Hudson finished second in the NJSIAA non-public Group B state tournament last season.

The addition of Quinerly improves an already strong recruiting class. The Wildcats signed Cole Swider, a 6-8 forward from Barrington, RI, and Brandon Slater, a 6-6 guard/forward out of Fairfax, Va., during the early signing period in November.

Swider is ranked No. 34 by ESPN, No. 39 by 247Sports and No. 41 by Rival. He is the No. 10 power forward in the class, according to Rivals and 247Sports, and No. 11 by ESPN.

Slater is ranked No. 45 by ESPN, No. 47 by 247Sports and No. 53 by Rivals. He is the No. 12 small forward by Rivals, according to Rivals, No. 13 by ESPN and the No. 8 shooting guard by 247Sports.

The class is ranked 11th by 247Sports and 12th by Rivals.