Adidas Scandal (FBI Investigation, Several Schools Impacted)

[Nick]

Check out this old quote from Pitino on how UL ended up with Bowen... "In my 40 years of coaching this is the luckiest I've been."

[DukieInKansas]

Probably the only CBB board where you can find a reference to investment advisers and business development companies. Not sure I see any reason to think Sood has any connection to this investigation, however.

Edit: I see Sood is named in the complaint. So sammy3469 may well be right about the origins of this case.

He is one of the 10 named in the court documents per ESPN: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-bas...aud-corruption So, he has some kind of connection - doesn't mean he is guilty of anything.

Oops - slow on the response. Saw your edit after I posted.

[Nick]

Why is it illegal for Adidas to give money to somebody to attend a particular school? I understand that it's shady but I can't articulate why exactly.

I think I found an answer to my question in the Reddit thread:

I will quote the complaint directly "In addition, Chuck Connors Person, arranged for Witness to make payments directly to the families of the players Person was sterring to Witness. These payments defrauded University by depriving it of the finanical aid University continued to award to the relevant student atheletes under false pretenses." So essentially, Business professional gave money to players family through Defendant (in this case Persons). This in turn defrauded the federal government by giving people Federal aid that they would not otherwise receive.

[sammy3469]

Probably the only CBB board where you can find a reference to investment advisers and business development companies. Not sure I see any reason to think Sood has any connection to this investigation, however.

Edit: I see Sood is named in the complaint. So sammy3469 may well be right about the origins of this case.

The FBI flipped one financial adviser who put the FBI into the loop with Sood who is central to both of the alleged schemes. Keep in mind this is an outgrowth of their overall investigations into financial advisers ripping athletes off. From limited googling, Sood and his firm seem like they run on the edge a whole lot of the time (and frankly were probably on the radar even before this direct case).

[MarkD83]

I really really hope the NCAA doesn't use this to take the focus off of uNC.

This was exactly my first thought.

[MChambers]

The FBI flipped one financial adviser who put the FBI into the loop with Sood who is central to both of the alleged schemes. Keep in mind this is an outgrowth of their overall investigations into financial advisers ripping athletes off. From limited googling, Sood and his firm seem like they run on the edge a whole lot of the time (and frankly were probably on the radar even before this direct case).

Friends at the SEC have long expressed concern to me about some BDCs.

[swood1000]

I don't know why he wasn't arrested, but there is a Coach-1 from University 6 (i.e. Louisville) in a July 27 Las Vegas hotel meeting where Bowen was reference in trying to set up a plan to get another player graduating in 2019 to come. So someone at Louisville knew and actively helped in July 2017. This is death penalty level stuff for them.

This is one page 21 of this complaint.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr...98751/download

University-6 is in trouble. According to the complaint:

Noting that University-6 was already on probation with the NCAA, DAWKINS indicated that they would have to be particularly careful with how they passed money to Player-11 and his family. Coach-1 agreed, stating "we gotta be very low key."

This conversation was alleged to have happened on July 27, 2017 (also attended by an assistant coach from University-6). Louisville was placed on probation June 15, 2017.

The repeat-violator legislation (“death penalty”) is applicable to an institution if, within a five-year period, the following conditions exist:
 
• Following the announcement of a major case, a major violation occurs and

• The second violation occurred within five years of the starting date of the penalty assessed in the first case. The second major case does not have to be in the same sport as the previous case to affect the second sport.

• Penalties for repeat violators of legislation, subject to exemptions authorized by the committee on the basis of specifically stated reasons, may include any of the following:
• The prohibition of some or all outside competition in the sport involved in the latest major violation for one or two sport seasons and the prohibition of all coaching staff members in that sport from involvement (directly or indirectly) in any coaching activities at the institution during that period
• The elimination of all initial grants-in-aid and recruiting activities in the sport involved in the latest major violation in question for a two-year period.
• The requirement that all institutional staff member serving on the NCAA Board of Directors; Leadership, Legislative, Presidents or Management Councils; Executive Committee or other Association governance bodies resign their positions. All institutional representatives shall be ineligible to serve on any NCAA committee for a period of four years and
• The requirement that the institution relinquish its Association voting privileges for a four-year period.

[wsb3]

My hope is that the NCAA determines it has to take a strong stand to protect what little is left of its reputation. Hammer time.

That was my first thought OPK.

[killerleft]

Oh come on, do you really believe that? Do you really believe that there is any other realistic avenue towards professional basketball and football that does not involve attending a college? There should be, and maybe the NBA developmental league is on its way towards that goal ... but the opportunities it provides for advancement are still limited and are nowhere as visible as college basketball. And football does not even have that. The only sensible solution is a minor league approach similar to baseball, where young athletes are given a choice. And that will never happen unless enough people recognize the hypocrisy in so-called "college" revenue sports and demand a change. And that, in turn, will never happen.

I don't believe college players should be paid. I DO believe that college affords them the further opportunity to make themselves financially secure through their 'audition' for pro scouts. If a player makes millions after his one successful year in college, I don't think anyone would deny that the opportunity for this was a direct result of his being measured against other competition and rewarded as the pros see fit.

Added: IF there were a minor league for budding NBAers, the players would NOT command very much money, in my book. It is the highly visible COLLEGE sports scene that affords them the opportunity to showcase their talents. College sports command attention, not minor league sports.

[RPS]

Nobody makes these players come to college.

Strictly speaking, you are correct. But I know of no American player who succeeded in the NBA without first going to college other than those who, under a prior CBA, went to the NBA straight out of high school. In any event, it's not a promising path to avoid college.

They have other options if they want to get paid.

There are no practical options.

Since college is where they can increase their worth (in addition to getting a free ride to college), I'm not crying for them.

By this logic, Bill Gates could have been forced to serve an unpaid internship (with tuition, room and board covered) to "increase his worth" before going out on his own. Or Jennifer Lawrence. Or Taylor Swift. Or or or. In any other context, this claim would seem remarkably silly.

Bilas is doing enough whining for everybody.

Bilas is one of the few media stars actually willing to speak truth to power despite the monstrous incentives for him to go along and get along.

Before you ask, if they want NBA money, sue the NBA. The colleges have no input concerning the age limit of NBA players.

Again, strictly speaking, that's true. And the lawsuit would not be successful because labor law supersedes individual rights in this instance. Net/net, the NBA and the NCAA have a nice little scam going. The NCAA gets free labor and the NBA gets a free minor league system. In each case, those multi-billion dollar entities get generally what they want. The only ones without freedom are the players, who are young and who are disproportionately poor and black -- they have no clout whatsoever. Most people don't care about them in this regard because we'd all love to be one of them and love what we get out of the deal -- great college basketball (if not as great as it used to be).

[Henderson]

University-6 is in trouble. According to the complaint:



This conversation was alleged to have happened on July 27, 2017 (also attended by an assistant coach from University-6). Louisville was placed on probation June 15, 2017.

Gary Parrish at CBS Sports quoted that exact conversation in connection with Louisville. He may be wrong, but it doesn't look so good for Rick "Lucky" Pitino's program.

First it was hookers, and Pitino said "I had no idea." Next it's bribes, and Pitino says he just got lucky to land the recruit. At some point, ignoring the malfeasance of your assistants becomes a lack of institutional control. Louisville is gonna get smacked, and Pitino is toast. Maybe Minnesota needs an assistant? I hear Rick has connections there.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This thread is getting derailed by "should/shouldn't college athletes get paid." That is an interesting question, but irrelevant to whether or not it is illegal as all get out to bribe amateur athletes to go to a particular college.

It is wrong, illegal, and counter to the concept of amateurism. If you don't like the rules, fine, neither do I. But not obeying the rules is still cheating.

[Hingeknocker]

This thread is getting derailed by "should/shouldn't college athletes get paid." That is an interesting question, but irrelevant to whether or not it is illegal as all get out to bribe amateur athletes to go to a particular college.

It is wrong, illegal, and counter to the concept of amateurism. If you don't like the rules, fine, neither do I. But not obeying the rules is still cheating.

If anyone is not viewing this story through the lens of why the conditions for black market payments to the players exist, they're doing an incredible disservice to themselves.

[Troublemaker]

Perhaps the same reason the feds went after Lance Armstrong. A U.S. Attorney wants to make a name for himself or herself. Are all the indictments in the same district?

Cannot see this as a huge priority in federal law enforcement.

In my head, there's a U.S. attorney who's a huge college basketball fan and understands the impact of these indictments, which is that, as of today, the black market for college basketball talent has momentarily been suspended. That doesn't mean the black market won't rev up again in the future, but that process could take weeks, maybe months. Right now, all the shoe company reps, player agents, schools, and coaches who were dirty are in a panic and have to stop and re-evaluate what they've been doing to make sure they're not the next names to be indicted. Any wiring of money that was planned to go out today has been scrapped.

These next few months might be the cleanest college basketball recruiting has been in years.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

If anyone is not viewing this story through the lens of why the conditions for black market payments to the players exist, they're doing an incredible disservice to themselves.

So you would feel okay if Duke were involved in this case? Since it is just emblematic of the corrupt system?

Teams employing this conduct are cheating. I am fine with not condemning the players who are victims of this jacked up situation, but the schools PAYING six figures to lure players from other schools are skewing the field of competition.

[RPS]

It is wrong, illegal, and counter to the concept of amateurism. If you don't like the rules, fine, neither do I. But not obeying the rules is still cheating.

I completely agree.

This thread is getting derailed by "should/shouldn't college athletes get paid." That is an interesting question, but irrelevant to whether or not it is illegal as all get out to bribe amateur athletes to go to a particular college.

Yes, it is arguably irrelevant (strictly speaking). But it goes a long way toward describing why the bribery is all but inevitable. There isn't much that's complicated about the cheating aspect. If the accuseds did what they are charged with doing, they (and ultimately their schools) will be in big trouble. But in terms of overall impact on college sports, the why and its inevitability are the significant and interesting questions to me.

[UrinalCake]

If anyone is not viewing this story through the lens of why the conditions for black market payments to the players exist, they're doing an incredible disservice to themselves.

To me, the issue is the NBA not letting players go pro straight out of high school, moreso than the issue of paying them. If they could do that then these top players would have no part of the college system and agents would have no need to bribe coaches. But as others have said, even if colleges could pay players you'd still have agents and boosters trying to steer them to certain schools.

[SoCalDukeFan]

If any of the financial advisors were registered investment advisers with either the SEC or one or more states, they’d have to disclose the payments on their registration forms.

is that an NCAA violation.

However it is alleged that some of the money went from the asst. coach to players' families which is clearly an NCAA violation.

SoCal

[sammy3469]

Friends at the SEC have long expressed concern to me about some BDCs.

FWIW, the complaint says the investment firm/individual co-operating with the FBI settled with the FBI on May 6th, 2016. Looks like it is Louis Blazer. The SEC complaint only lists one of Blazer's two firms. Interestingly the other one was left out, but was eventually sold to another "Investment Advisory Firm in New Jersey". Well if you check out Munish Sood's IARD filing, one of his previous employments was Princeton-Blazer Advisors, LLC in 2013. There's your connection.

https://www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2016-83.html
https://www.sec.gov/litigation/compl...-pr2016-83.pdf
https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/IAPD/Sup...dvl_pk=2805974

[SoCalDukeFan]

I have a friend and relative my marriage who is a former assistant coach at several Division I schools. He says that his is the "tip of the iceberg."

SoCal