Curtis Malone Facing Federal Drug Charges

[Turtleboy]

This sounds pretty serious.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/9561462/washington-dc-aau-basketball-talent-broker-facing-federal-drug-charges

[Cameron]

It's a good thing that this doesn't reflect on Nolan Smith in any capacity whatsoever.

Tough break, though.

[elvis14]

It's a good thing that this doesn't reflect on Nolan Smith in any capacity whatsoever.

Tough break, though.

I'm 100% positive that UNC fans will publicly equate this to PJ's getting busted for possession. Kind of like the way they equate Lance Thomas's jewelry purchase to....well their entire systematic system of academic cheating, wheels for heels, you name it. Logic and facts be damned!!!!

Hope Nolan can find his way on an NBA roster for the upcoming season.

[gam7]

I'm 100% positive that UNC fans will publicly equate this to PJ's getting busted for possession. Kind of like the way they equate Lance Thomas's jewelry purchase to....well their entire systematic system of academic cheating, wheels for heels, you name it. Logic and facts be damned!!!!

Hope Nolan can find his way on an NBA roster for the upcoming season.

I just took a quick look on IC, and the posters so far rightly agree that it shouldn't reflect poorly on Nolan (or the other former DC Assault players - which include Tyler, Quinn and incoming UNC freshman Nate Britt).

[CameronBlue]

I'm 100% positive that UNC fans will publicly equate this to PJ's getting busted for possession. .

Yeah, okay, but it wasn't Nolan who was busted and PJ was. It would be a pretty ironic point anyway wouldn't it? Though the penalties vary, the economics and other machinations of the illicit drug trade produce similar externalities whether you're selling an ounce of pot or whatever the hell the basic unit measurement for coke and heroin are. You're supporting a drug culture that connnects you directly, cause and effect, to children used as drug mules and headless corpses in the desert. Recreational pot users toss off their habit as being harmless (of which I was one for a brief time in college--just like Bill Clinton, except that I didn't EXHALE, which I thought was the point), it ain't unless you consider perpetuating this misery harmless. (Sorry to broach PPB territoriy but the war on drugs is insane, utterly and completely. It's why I support some form of legalization.)

Let the UNC folks draw their comparisons but I'm willing to bet they aren't quite that deluded. Here's hoping they can be saved anyway.

[Billy Dat]

Hope Nolan can find his way on an NBA roster for the upcoming season.

He's going to get a shot with the Celtics, but this is a HUGE distraction. You have to assume he and Malone are close, and Nolan and his Mom are obviously close, this kind of thing is like a parent getting a life threatening illness. Plus, he's coming off that summer league injury. Terrible.

[johnb]

This is really sad.

From a quick internet scan, the government's case is strong, and Malone appears to have a long history of drug dealing. Michael Beasley's lawsuit isn't the first time he's been accused of tampering with recruits. It's even more complicated in regards to Malone taking a fatherly role with both Nolan and Beasley in the context of their being on his aau team (i bet they weren't bad players at 13) and in the house after he married Nolan's mother. Given That Nolan was beloved by us and presumably respected/liked by Carolina fans, I doubt people are going to blame him for anything. It is just a drag that his dad died when he was a kid and now this.

I'm sure he's getting a lot of support, and he's great at developing relationships and mentors, but this has to be tough...

[superdave]

Is Nolan's mother still married to Curtis Malone?

[Billy Dat]

OUCH!

Mark Giannotto ‏@mgiannotto 29m
DC Assault co founder Curtis Malone plead guilty to distributing large amounts of cocaine & heroin today in court. Faces 5-11 yrs in prison

[Reilly]

October 24, 2009: Duke beat Maryland in football in a driving rain, Harrison Barnes was getting love from the Crazies, and Curtis Malone was introduced in Cameron and got to run to mid-court (it was parents' weekend, and there was an exhibition hoops game) .... fast forward 4.5 years, Maryland's on its way out of the ACC, Barnes is not beloved, and Malone won't be in Cameron for a while.

[Reilly]

press release from the prosecutor ...

http://www.justice.gov/usao/dc/news/2014/mar/14-061.html

[WillJ]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/curtis-malone-basketball-mentor--and-drug-dealer/2014/03/27/634350ae-a647-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html

An interesting story, though I still don't feel like I know Malone very well.

[MCFinARL]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/curtis-malone-basketball-mentor--and-drug-dealer/2014/03/27/634350ae-a647-11e3-a5fa-55f0c77bf39c_story.html

An interesting story, though I still don't feel like I know Malone very well.

Sometimes people just don't fit into our regular boxes. Malone would appear to be one of those people--the good and the bad going on simultaneously, and maybe not intersecting at all.

Have to think this is very hard on Nolan Smith, his sister, and especially his mom.

[Reilly]

Thanks for the link. Reading the story, the first question I had: how could he afford a $525K house in 2004? How much of that was drug money and how much of that was shoe company money? I also wonder if DC Assault incorporated, and if there is any bookkeeping or tax filings (maybe as a nonprofit?) .... is there any way to determine how much shoe company money flowed to DC Assault over the years, and how much of that into Curtis Malone's pocket? Then, later in the story, I guess the IRS had sort of some of the same questions -- as he still has a pending civil matter for failing to file income taxes in the early 2000s.

I would like more context as to how DC Assault became seemingly *the* AAU hoops organization in DC -- I imagine there would have been no shortage of competitors, folks looking to work in hoops, work with kids, folks who had already been established ... and here comes a 25 y.o. in 1993 and he ends up having the go-to organization in that field. Says something for his organizational skills or interpersonal skills or something.

I recall K talking about how much he respected Nolan's mother -- it seemed K had very deep affection for her and had developed a close bond with her.

[sagegrouse]

Seems pretty clear. Curtis Malone was a drug dealer and that was his primary source of income. D.C. Assault, hoops and kids were his avocation.

[Reilly]

The $125K lien being pursued civilly -- is that based on his drug income or based on DC Assault or other income, or some combination? Even if he was making nice sums from the drug trade, I'm still interested in the hoops side of the equation: 9 teams to tournaments here and there and travel, how it was all accounted for, what sums came from the shoe companies ....

And it's interesting that he rose to the top of the DC AAU game.

[sagegrouse]

The $125K lien being pursued civilly -- is that based on his drug income or based on DC Assault or other income, or some combination? Even if he was making nice sums from the drug trade, I'm still interested in the hoops side of the equation: 9 teams to tournaments here and there and travel, how it was all accounted for, what sums came from the shoe companies ....

And it's interesting that he rose to the top of the DC AAU game.

It looks to me that he caught the AAU wave and rose to the top through charm and hustle. I believe the AAU has at least some procedures to catch thievery, so I am willing to credit the drug-dealing with financing his lifestyle.

Sage

[Reilly]

DC Assault has re-branded itself as DC Premier. UnderArmour seems to still be a big sponsor.

http://www.csnbaltimore.com/ncaa-maryland-terps/under-armour-dc-premier-aau-emerges-place-dc-assault

[superdave]

Sports Illustrated article on Malone.

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/08/20/curtis-malone-aau-basketball-drug-arrest

They interview him from prison. Pretty fascinating, and damning about how college basketball goes along with the AAU underworld to get players.

[SoCalDukeFan]

Sports Illustrated article on Malone.

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2014/08/20/curtis-malone-aau-basketball-drug-arrest

They interview him from prison. Pretty fascinating, and damning about how college basketball goes along with the AAU underworld to get players.

Coach K is quoted as “I think everyone was shocked,” says Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski of Malone’s drug-dealing career. “How would you know that? I feel bad for the family. He’s been a great father to Nolan.”

Evidently Gary Williams knew. I think about everyone who knows much about college basketball knows that many of the AAU teams are dirty. If you don't look very hard then you won't know.

SoCal

[superdave]

Coach K is quoted as “I think everyone was shocked,” says Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski of Malone’s drug-dealing career. “How would you know that? I feel bad for the family. He’s been a great father to Nolan.”

Evidently Gary Williams knew. I think about everyone who knows much about college basketball knows that many of the AAU teams are dirty. If you don't look very hard then you won't know.

SoCal

I always respected Gary Williams for backing away from Rudy Gay after the AAU coach shakedown (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/12/AR2009021202299.html).

I am glad to know that Nolan came to Duke via Johnny Dawkins' relationship with the Smith family, not through Curtis Malone.

[lotusland]

Coach K is quoted as “I think everyone was shocked,” says Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski of Malone’s drug-dealing career. “How would you know that? I feel bad for the family. He’s been a great father to Nolan.”

Evidently Gary Williams knew. I think about everyone who knows much about college basketball knows that many of the AAU teams are dirty. If you don't look very hard then you won't know.

SoCal

My take was that Gary Williams knew he was a convicted felon. I don't think they necessarily knew he was currently dealing cocaine and heroin. Apparently it was common practice for Malone to get one of his AAU coaches an assistant job in exchange for landing a high profile recruit:


He still speaks as if he’s running Assault, which is now called D.C. Premier and is overseen by Damon Handon and Mike Sumner, two of Malone’s former aides. (For reasons neither will share, Malone and Handon do not speak.) He brags that if he weren’t in jail, McDonald’s All-American guard Romelo Trimble never would have “stepped foot on Maryland’s campus” unless Turgeon hired an Assault coach.

So Gary probably had reason to steer clear of him. K had a number of recruits from DC Assault but never hired a coach so maybe Duke's program was seen as above that sort of bribery and K never saw that side of Malone.