FBI College Basketball Corruption Investigation
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JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
The federal funding gets this into federal court. But, in a roundabout way, the NCAA rules probably partially inform whether there was the requisite "corrupt" intent to bring the charges in the first place.
sacraig
- The desert
I am a little sad I clicked on that. I've vowed not to give Forde my clicks ever since he wished for rain on the parade of roses in 2007/08 just because he was sad his alma mater fell victim to the BCS rules at the time. No hint of objectivity.
On the other hand, I completely agree with him here.
RichBradIllini
- Peoria
Maybe I don't understand 'grey area' then. I would have thought coaches paying players to attend a particular school was the 'grey area'. Maybe I need a definition.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
The agent stated in the presser that the NCAA had nothing to do with this investigation. NCAA rules have zero to do with Federal law. The agent also stated the investigation was initiated by the arrest of an individual who had been convicted of violating SEC rules previously. That individual agreed to become an informant. Obviously this person was one of the 'middle men', one of the financial managers.
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mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
What can you say, BU has to make some statement, this doesn't help when your close to closing recruitment process. Wait and see.opcorn::violin:
The wrongest take.
Congrats.
It does not often work that way. More typically, the prosecutor tells the little fish he is about to be indicted, and that if he wants to avoid same, he needs to give up information on a bigger fish. The little fish talks to avoid being charged.
That did not happen here. Further, the nature of the Evans violation makes it unlikely he could give up BU even if he wanted to. He got $2,500 to steer Jawun to an agent. Are we to assume he agreed to split that w/ BU?
Now, were we talking about a recruit getting $100,000 to enroll at a school in Kentucky, it might be a different matter. That assistant might very well be able to provide info on his head coach that would save his own tail. You will note that no assistant in Kentucky has been charged.
Yet.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
This is where I am, as well. There is a lot of reasonable middle ground between the trolls on NU's and Iowa's boards who brought up Underwood almost immediately and cracked jokes about us "shaking in our boots already" and some fans here who say we have nothing to worry about. As has been said, this is the FBI and no school is above another; they don't give a lick about the NCAA's revenue. NO school should not have a queasy feeling right now, even if some have more to worry about than others.
sbillini
- st petersburg, fl
...and they have only gone after the people they had enough evidence for...e.g. wiretaps...and most likely had air tight cases against. That by no means insinuates that they don't have suspicion of wrongdoing or even some (but not enough) evidence that others are involved. Now that they have some coaches in a bind, it's logical to assume they could be trying to get the rest of the evidence they need. This is not a stretch, folks. I'm not an attorney, but from what I've seen in my work (and speaking with attorneys), this is how these investigations routinely proceed.
Couple that with the fact that Evans is from the same coaching tree as BU, and that also raises some flags. not to mention that fact that BU hired another assistant to replace Evans who himself has a checkered past (his history at USF)....
Oh, and as has been mentioned before, the NCAA doesn't need nearly the burden of proof that the DOJ does to make BU's life miserable....if you think the chances of this being a meaningful issue for us are significantly >0 you're being straight up naive.
I'm not trying to be an alarmist. I think it's a positive that BU wasn't directly implicated...and that helps our chances. But by no means are we out of the woods. And i don't need a flame to come up and burn my !!! to know that where there's smoke - there's fire.
sacraig
- The desert
Credit where it's due: I really enjoyed this post.
So he will say nothing publicly, I think someone would have to say something about his lack of involvement. Can't see how nothing can be said. It's not just going to go away.
Guess maybe being innocent, you keep your mouth shut?
mattcoldagelli
- The Transfer Portal with Do Not Contact Tag
I don't think that's right. It's not about NCAA rules, it's about altering the financial standing of these recruits/families, which in turn leads to fraud.
You bring up a good point and question for those who know. Question: I don't recall, but had there ever been a basketball death penalty? Additionally, with Louisville's recent history, it would seem that this might be possible. I reckon it might depend on what else the investigation reveals.
Personal Vs. Institutional. ==> Evans takes money for personal gain ==> Does not influence player to attend said institution ==> Pretty straight forward. Now if you want to go back years and years to SC then maybe. I'm not TOO worried
sacraig
- The desert
As the saying goes, there are lots of fish in the sea. Just because these people haven't talked yet, that doesn't mean there aren't still others who are actively aiding the investigation.
Meanwhile, if the Justice Department makes a show of these arrests, it can also scare additional coaches who fear they may be next to come forward and cut a deal before they end up with an indictment.
I am not necessarily saying this is likely or unlikely to touch BU in some way, but this is far from over. There likely many more coaches in jeopardy who haven't been named publicly yet.
sacraig
- The desert
So he will say nothing publicly, I think someone would have to say something about his lack of involvement. Can't see how nothing can be said. It's not just going to go away.
Guess maybe being innocent, you keep your mouth shut?
Absolutely you keep your mouth shut. You don't insert yourself publicly into a situation like this whether you are secretly guilty or not. If you haven't been named, you keep your head down and go about your business. If there starts to be public rumblings about you, then sure, defend yourself, but don't insert yourself artificially into the story.
JFGsCoffeeMug
BU:1 Trash cans:0
- Chicago
You're not appreciating the nuance here.
You're right, the NCAA rules don't create federal law. But the charges in the criminal complaint require "corrupt intent." One way of determining whether an individual possessed the requisite intent for the crime is to look to their awareness of the applicable rules they were supposed to operate under, both federal and administrative.
I'm generally of the opinion that we get out of this relatively unscathed. However, what has me a little worried is that its a common FBI tactic to indict lower level targets simply for the purpose of pressuring them into giving testimony or divulging incriminating information about the higher level targets, their bosses, and then cutting them a nice deal. If this is the case here, that means they already have reason to suspect BU (or Frank Martin) of being dirty and are just looking for Evans to provide the final nail in the coffin.
Again, I think we're fine. This is just worse case scenario doomsday stuff.
Again, I think we're fine. This is just worse case scenario doomsday stuff.
I see your logic, but I'm a get out in front of it guy, there will be fingers pointed, hopefully they don't point at BU.
sacraig
- The desert
Honestly, I think Frank Martin would be the more likely target. Prior to Illinois, BU spent exactly 1 season as a head coach in a major conference. I would be a little surprised if there were concerns about these sorts of thing sat Stephen F. Austin. Whether he got involved (or knew about it) during his season in Stillwater is still a valid question, but it would be a drop in the bucket compared to Martin's career.
sacraig
- The desert
At the moment, though, there is nothing to get out in front of. He hasn't been implicated in any way.
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