FBI College Basketball Corruption Investigation

[ILL in IA]

This guy has a ton of stuff about Louisville and Bowen - https://twitter.com/JasonRileyWDRB

This is better then a telenovela

 

[ILL_INI]

This guy has a ton of stuff about Louisville and Bowen - https://twitter.com/JasonRileyWDRB

That is good stuff. I'm curious why no UofL coach has been arrested.

I would be SHOCKED! if Auburn were involved in any shady dealings.

Auburn is not an Adidas school, so I doubt there will be any repercussions for them related to this.

 

[ILL in IA]

That is good stuff. I'm curious why no UofL coach has been arrested.


Auburn is not an Adidas school, so I doubt there will be any repercussions for them related to this.

It reads like they haven't actually handled any of the money in what I have read. Would this keep them legally clean to the FBI? NCAA is different I know.

 

[illinihawk16]

makes me wonder if any of this had to do with a former recruit not faxing his LOI to Groce and going with UL instead ?

Doubtful. That recruit grew up a UL kid and seemed to have an emotional connection. Then again, anything shady at UL wouldn't surprise me...

 

[EJ33]

I suppose I'm a little confused about this, both not being a lawyer, and the fact that this has been going on for literally decades. Why the crack down now? Where are the big boys? I suppose it could just be chance that the agents they caught were not associated with any blue blood program.

Maybe the "big boys" are better at cheating too.

 

[ChiefIllini]

Maybe the "big boys" are better at cheating too.

I think its a much more likely story that Blue Bloods dont need to pay one and dones less than a tenth of a years NBA salary to come and play there.

 

[Deleted member 10676]

Some very interesting and amusing stuff here. (Who knew Chuck Person was named after Chuck Connors?) and who is Coach 2?

https://twitter.com/AdamHSays/status/912681457574977536

 

[EJ33]

makes me wonder if any of this had to do with a former recruit not faxing his LOI to Groce and going with UL instead ?

I doubt it. I think the bribes at the high school level are primarily focused on elite recruits (i.e., 5 stars). Kind of like the difference between being a lottery pick and a 2nd round draft choice.

 

[TownieMatt]

I suppose I'm a little confused about this, both not being a lawyer, and the fact that this has been going on for literally decades. Why the crack down now? Where are the big boys? I suppose it could just be chance that the agents they caught were not associated with any blue blood program.

Anyway, can someone explain the quid pro quo here? Is it as simple as:

Agent steers player to certain college, giving "enticements/bribes" to asst coach, and as a public employee this is illegal.
College agrees to steer player back to agent/shoe company.

Shoe company reps work with asst coaches to steer big recruits to programs sponsored by their brand. For example, big time recruit plays for an Adidas AAU team, Adidas reps want to make sure he plays for an Adidas school, then signs an endorsement deal with Adidas when the kid goes pro. Asst coaches play ball as a way to land big recruits with the help of the shoe companies.

There's nothing new here. It seems like the feds stepped in because these reps/asst coaches are committing wire fraud in the process.

 

[Deleted member 10676]

Gotta love Louisville.

Jason Riley‏Verified account @JasonRileyWDRB
Jason Riley Retweeted Jason Riley
A UofL assistant coach acknowledged to defendants that since the university was on probation, they needed to keep it on down low
WOW

 

[EJ33]

I think its a much more likely story that Blue Bloods dont need to pay one and dones less than a tenth of a years NBA salary to come and play there.

There's definitely some truth to that, but Blue Bloods drop bags of cash too.

 

[TCTORNADO]

How about paragraph 65(a)? In February 2017, Evans wanted money from the adviser in order to pay a high school recruit (actually his mother) who had previously given a verbal commitment.

The good news is that there's absolutely nothing implying that Underwood knew of any of this. As someone else mentioned, the adviser specifically stated in a recording that they needed to work through Evans rather than Frank Martin because head coaches make too much money and it's too risky for them.

That recruit is Zack Dawson and he originally committed to OSU under BU.

 

[JaxIllini1]

I suppose I'm a little confused about this, both not being a lawyer, and the fact that this has been going on for literally decades. Why the crack down now? Where are the big boys? I suppose it could just be chance that the agents they caught were not associated with any blue blood program.

Anyway, can someone explain the quid pro quo here? Is it as simple as:

Agent steers player to certain college, giving "enticements/bribes" to asst coach, and as a public employee this is illegal.
College agrees to steer player back to agent/shoe company.

From what I read in the Evans and Person complaints it involves advisors paying the assistants to curry favor with current players, not recruits. Specifically with Evans, he was paid to arrange meetings with the advisors, to steer the player to use the advisors, and to not let other advisors through the door.

The Bowen/Louisville situation seems to be a different ball of wax though. And the stuff I read didn't touch on Adidas either.

 

[TCTORNADO]

Some very interesting and amusing stuff here. (Who knew Chuck Person was named after Chuck Connors?) and who is Coach 2?

https://twitter.com/AdamHSays/status/912681457574977536

Person's nickname is "Rifleman"

 

[Calvin]

I think its a much more likely story that Blue Bloods dont need to pay one and dones less than a tenth of a years NBA salary to come and play there.

I've read many accounts that say otherwise. I recall one article of players bragging about how much they were paid by their schools to attend, as if it were a contest in itself. All second hand, but there are many such stories. And we know it's commonplace for inducements just based on the parade of scandals, which one would imagine is only a fraction of the true amount. IIRC, there was also a book written that explained some of Duke's techniques to get to players through family members, offering jobs, etc.

 

[Deleted member 10676]

Like to see Pitino wax all self-righteous on this one.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-b...es-hit-with-federal-fraud-corruption-charges/

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was asked about Bowen's commitment in June.
"We got lucky on this one," Pitino said. "I had an AAU director call me and say, 'Would you be interested in a basketball player?' I said ... 'Yeah, I'd be really interested.' But [Bowen and his people] had to come in unofficially, pay for their hotels, pay for their meals. So we spent zero dollars recruiting a five-star athlete who I loved when I saw him play. In my 40-some-odd years of coaching, this is the luckiest I've been."

 

[EthanM]

It is very important to realize that even though Evans only worked directly for BU for one year, they were both assistants under Martin at KState during '11-'12 and then at SC during '12-'13.

I've heard rumors that BU isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. The only thing that tempers my concern that BU will be implicated is the fact that if the feds continue to investigate this, LOTS of coaches will be calling lawyers eventually.

 

[IlliniMed]

Oh boy oh boy. Maybe OSU is the New Illinois snake bitten program. Feels good to have gotten rid of that

 

[Deleted member 10676]

It is very important to realize that even though Evans only worked directly for BU for one year, they were both assistants under Martin at KState during '11-'12 and then at SC during '12-'13.

I've heard rumors that BU isn't afraid of getting his hands dirty. The only thing that tempers my concern that BU will be implicated is the fact that if the feds continue to investigate this, LOTS of coaches will be calling lawyers eventually.

yep. think there is probably a lot of heaving in sinks going on this morning.

 

[ChiefIllini]

Oh boy oh boy. Maybe OSU is the New Illinois snake bitten program. Feels good to have gotten rid of that

You ever heard of jinxing something?

If this does go down (which it looks like a lock at this point), I find it hard to believe BU isn't affected someway by this news, whether it be official or negative recruiting against him.

 

[Centennialillini]

Why do these investigations take so long? "Knowing" that this happened and "proving" that this happened are too entirely different animals.

Wiretapping a hotel room in Vegas in April of 2016, making sure that the coaches and shoe reps get that room on the right day and having the time to tap the room takes the cooperation of people in the hotel. One slip and every coach stops playing the game for a while and you have nothing to show for millions of dollars of taxpayers money.

There is a reason the govt wins 90 plus percent of their cases. They take their time.

I remember an Illinois assistant basketball coach telling me over a drink decades ago "Strange things seem to happen when recruits visit Louisville"

 

[pruman91]

Doubtful. That recruit grew up a UL kid and seemed to have an emotional connection. Then again, anything shady at UL wouldn't surprise me...

everything about Louisville seems shady to me....

pitino and the spaghetti queen
strippers and prostitutes for recruits entertainment
etc etc

it's about time for the truth to come out and let the chips fall where they may

 

[TownieMatt]

You ever heard of jinxing something?

If this does go down (which it looks like a lock at this point), I find it hard to believe BU isn't affected someway by this news, whether it be official or negative recruiting against him.

You can guarantee that will happen, if it isn't already.

 

[TCTORNADO]

Jodi Cohen is on her way to C/U.

 

[FollowTisdale]

You ever heard of jinxing something?

If this does go down (which it looks like a lock at this point), I find it hard to believe BU isn't affected someway by this news, whether it be official or negative recruiting against him.

If the negative recruiting against Underwood is along the lines of "don't go play for him, he finds ways to get his players paid" then I think I'd not only be OK with that, but would actively encourage that kind of negative recruiting.