NCAA fraud verdicts may set new tone
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The University of Louisville was deemed a victim Wednesday by a federal jury who voted to convict three men in the pay-toplay college basketball trial, a verdict that amounts to a slam-dunk for federal prosecutors but leaves Louisville uneasily waiting to play defense against the NCAA.
The government’s case hinged on the argument that Louisville and other schools described in the scheme — including Kansas and North Carolina State — were victims, defrauded by representatives of Adidas, agents and other financial advisers.
Reacting to the guilty verdict Wednesday at ACC Media Day, firstyear Louisville men’s basketball coach Chris Mack declined to say whether he agreed with the prosecution’s stance.
“It was my understanding that the
University of Louisville wasn’t on trial,” Mack said. “I’m not on the jury. My opinion is inconsequential. I prefer to worry about things in my life that are more important than that trial.”
The trial’s conclusion brings the scandal one step closer to spurring the NCAA into action.
Adidas executive James Gatto, former Adidas consultant Merl Code and aspiring sports agent Christian Dawkins were found guilty on all counts, convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud — both felonies — in connection with a scheme to funnel money to the family of a former Louisville recruit.
“They’ve got a better winning percentage than any of our Hall of Fame coaches,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey joked of federal prosecutors. Figuratively speaking, the jury is still out on what eventual repercussions await Louisville. It’s unlikely, however, the NCAA will see the program as a pitiable victim. Although no Cardinals coaches were charged in connection with the case and wit- nesses testified that former head coach Rick Pitino was unaware of the scheme, Louisville attorney Keith Poynter said he thinks the guilty verdict worsens the outlook for Louisville basketball.
Philadelphia attorney Matt Haverstick told The CourierJournal he believes the convictions increase the likelihood that the NCAA will elect to punish any individuals or institutions it finds responsible for taking part in the scheme.
“I think the NCAA is going to take a pound of flesh after this,” Haverstick said. “The NCAA, if nothing else, loves to portray at least the illusion that it’s a tough enforcer. I don’t know how, in light of someone at trial acknowledging rampant rules violations going on in the NCAA, the NCAA can’t react to it. What will interest me is what programs will be attacked and, conversely, what programs will get left alone.”
New NCAA guidelines revealed in August give the organization subpoena power, meaning it is free to use information from a courtroom, government agencies or other third-party investigations to supplement evidence gleaned from its own investigation.
In Louisville’s case, that means witness testimony accusing former assistant Kenny Johnson of providing $1,300 in rent money to Brian Bowen Sr. while the program was on NCAA probation could wind up drawing NCAA sanctions.
In light of the conviction, Poynter said, “The weight of the testimony will be viewed more critically. The NCAA is going to use the information to the fullest extent they can.”
When the FBI will give the NCAA the green light to start using that information is uncertain, pending completion of additional trials.
ACC Commissioner John Swofford said Wednesday that restoring public and institutional confidence in the integrity of college basketball is vital, although he deemed it “premature” to call for specific action without yet knowing how the NCAA will use testimony in its enforcement process.
“You can have the best rules everything and the best system and the best process, and if people still don’t understand you play by the rules, then it seems to me that’s where you have to attack it,” Swofford said, “because ultimately it gets down to individuals mak- ing (deceptive) decisions, bad decisions, inappropriate decisions, that undermine those that are in the game that do it well and do it the right way and do it with within the rules.”
To Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, the outcome of the trial mattered less than what it exposed. “The verdict doesn’t mean anything,” Boeheim said. “What’s there is there. What’s there is not good. ... They broke an awful lot of NCAA rules.”
Ex-Auburn assistant Chuck Person and financial adviser Rashan Michel will be tried in February. Ex-USC assistant Tony Bland, ex-Arizona assistant Book Richardson and ex-Oklahoma State assistant Lamont Evans will be tried in April.