It’s been more than three years since the federal government raised the curtain on university basketball.
A multi-year federal investigation into bribery and other forms of corruption led to the arrest of ten people, the conviction of three others and the trial of seven others.
Six assistant coaches accused by the court of taking bribes to refer players to certain advisors and financial managers – all African-American – were fired.
Only one program director involved in the scandal was fired… Rick Pitino from Louisville, who is currently training in Iona.
Other head coaches such as Sean Miller of Arizona, Bruce Pearl of Auburn, Bill Self of Kansas, Will Wade of LSU and Mark Gottfried of Cal State Northridge continue to work and earn millions of dollars in compensation.
Of the dozens of Unit I programmes that have received notification of allegations or have confirmed that they are being investigated by the NCAA, only one has made a decision in their case. The state of Oklahoma was sentenced to three years probation this summer and was banned from participating in post-season tournaments this season. Cowboys are calling for punishment.
Why has the NCAA been taking action against suspected fraudsters for so long?
Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump! Alabama, Arizona, Creighton, Kansas, Louisville, Oklahoma State NC, South Carolina, USC…
At the risk of apologizing… I don’t want to do this… There are only a few problems with these cases, Jonathan Duncan, NCAA vice president of enforcement, told ESPN. But there are problems in all cases, so a common answer is that in all cases of non-compliance, this and all the others, there is a level of fair trial guaranteed by law as part of the non-compliance procedure for the benefit of the schools and the people involved in the case.
And if most members of the association want justice quickly when it comes to someone else, when it comes to you or your school, we feel that these institutions and those involved benefit from all the guarantees built into the process.
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Duncan and Nymah Stevenson Starks, NCAA Vice President for Hearings, said the traditional infringement procedure and the newly established Independent Accountability Solution Process (IARP) are working exactly as members expected – even though it takes years to investigate and assess tax violations.
Duncan said NCAA law enforcement officials did not begin investigating basketball cases until May 2019, after waiting more than a year for the U.S. Attorney’s request.
We wanted to cooperate with the federal government, and by cooperation I don’t mean work with them, but resign and let their process run its course, so we can limit ourselves to what we can do, he said. We decided not to intervene and were finally given the green light to conduct a serious investigation in May 2019.
Duncan said that every basketball case that goes through the traditional peer review process, which usually ends with an injury committee hearing, has been investigated and charged.
Fault! The file name is not specified. The NCAA has stated that it is awaiting a federal investigation into varsity basketball to address some of the delays in its cases. AP photo / Darron Cummings
All are no longer under investigation and charges and awaiting trial, Duncan said.
At least half a dozen basketball cases related to the federal investigation are considered peer-reviewed cases – Auburn, Creighton, Oklahoma, South Carolina, TCU and SSC.
More complex cases relating to Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, LSU and North Carolina are handled by MAPP. These cases are at different stages of the process. They all extend until 2021, some maybe even beyond.
For example, Duncan writes in his letter referring to the IARP USL case that law enforcement officers interviewed only 16 of the at least 75 people who may have been known or involved in offences. He also wrote that many of these 16 people should be re-interviewed in light of the information contained in Wade’s cell phone records.
Building a case against the DLSU can take several months of work by a complex file team of lawyers and independent investigators.
Independent investigators and lawyers can come back and re-investigate, do additional research with the same resources that we have, and they find what we find, which means that the resources and time of those who will speak with us are limited, Duncan said. So it’s a challenge, they take as much or more time as we do.
The NCAA has established an IARP to deal with complex cases of potentially serious violations. Once the case is resolved, independent investigators, lawyers and decision-makers who have no direct connection to NCAA member schools can investigate further and then make a decision. The decision of the independent resolution panel shall not be subject to appeal under these procedures.
The case of Memphis star James Weizman, which had nothing to do with a federal criminal case, was the first case accepted by the IARP. The mayor hasn’t decided on a single case yet, not even about the tigers.
I think it was a bit of a mistake to think the process was going to speed up, Stevenson Starks said. I think it’s potentially fast once the case is in and there’s an assessment. … The idea that the case is entered into the system and then quickly resolved is simply unrealistic, which is why I think the procedure works as intended.
Here you can see where each of the 12 NCAA violations is related to the federal investigation:
Crimson Tide has not acknowledged that an investigation is ongoing or that they have received an indictment.
In September 2017, Assistant Athletic Director Kobe Baker resigned after university staff questioned him about his involvement in a meeting between Auburn Chuck Person’s assistant coach Rachan Michel, a former NBA officer, and the Atlanta pimp, who later pleaded guilty to corruption charges.
Baker, who oversaw the administration of basketball in Alabama and served as a liaison for the SEC office, the compliance and student support services, previously worked for the NCAA.
During a meeting before Baker’s dismissal, he confessed to officials in Alabama that he was the man named in a federal complaint against Person and Michel as employee 1, sources told ESPN.
According to the complaint, Michel organised a meeting on or about 1 January 2001. May 2017, a meeting between financial advisor Martin Blazer, a cooperating witness in the FBI investigation, and an employee. The FBI has claimed that Blazer paid an employee $5,000… Michael.
In November 2018, ESPN reported that a future CEO, Christian Dawkins, sued in both federal lawsuits, offered to deliver Alabama star Colin Sexton $1,500 a month from September 2017 to April 2018, plus $23,000 in travel expenses for his family. His brother, Jordan Sexton, was also about to get a four-year contract from a $170,000 management company proposed by Dawkins. Sexton was briefly disqualified for participation in the only season with Crimson Tide in 2017-18. Dawkins’ phone records for three. From May to 2 May. July 2017, published by federal prosecutors, contained 15 calls to a Sexton family number.
Wildcats admitted that on the 23rd, however, they refused to disclose the content of the indictment. According to sources, Arizona is accused of nine rule violations, five of them on the first level. The university is accused of lack of institutional control and lack of supervision, while Miller is accused of lack of control by the head coach.
Arizona’s external counsel, Paul Kelly, asked for the case to be referred to the IARP shortly after the school received the NOA.
Earlier this week, in response to an open investigation by ESPN, an Arizona official said the university would not release the content until the IARP process had been completed.
There remains the possibility of further investigation by the NCAA, the university said in an e-mail. As a result, the University currently does not give any notification of costs (NOAA) under the NCAA regulations, as it is in the interest of the State to carry out additional research prior to disclosure. After all further questions had been answered, the University undertook to publish the Olympic Airlines, recognising the public interest in its publication.
Former Wildcat’s assistant coach Emanuel Book Richardson has pleaded guilty to involvement in a criminal conspiracy to bribe federal prosecutors. He was accused of taking $20,000 to direct players from Arizona to certain financial advisors and managers once they became professionals.
At a federal criminal trial in May 2019, prosecutors listened to a jury murmur in which Richardson Dawkins said that Miller Deandra Ayton paid $10,000 a month at the former Wildcats Star Center while he was enrolled at school.
During the same recording, Dawkins pointed out that the then wild cat caretaker, Rawl Alkins, had also received inappropriate benefits while playing in Arizona.
Fault! The file name is not specified. Sean Miller deliberately denies paying Deandra Ayton or any other player and remains head coach in Arizona. Casey Sapio/USA Sports today
Miller refused to pay Ayton, who was the first player in the 2018 NBA draft, or any other player who signed with Arizona.
I’ve never done it before and I never will, Miller said at a press conference in March 2018.
There were also testimonies, arguments and/or evidence presented at federal trials that indicated that Richardson had paid for the recruitment of Javon Quinarley’s mother, whom she denied, and that Wildcats was willing to offer $50,000 for the recruitment of Brian Bowen II and $150,000 for the five-star Nassir Little Avenue.
Two possible cases of academic fraud have also been indicted.
Assistant coach Mark Phelps was suspended indefinitely in Arizona in February 2019 for allegedly violating NCAA rules through ESPN. At that time, sources told ESPN that Phelps was accused of violating the university degrees of former Sharif O’Neill recruits in Arizona. O’Neill, son of former NBA star Shakeel O’Neill, was betrayed by the Wildcats in 2017 before signing an agreement with the University of California (he has since been transferred to LSU).
Also, Richardson told undercover FBI agents that he paid a high school coach to give Elkins the academic right to play for the Wildcats. This is from a transcript of the meeting ESPN received from the U.S. Attorney General’s office in New York.
During a meeting with Dawkins, financial planner Munich Sod and two undercover FBI agents on the 20th. June 2017 Richardson said Elkins needed a different class to comply with NCAA rules and the unknown bus wanted $40,000 to include the class in its official transcript.
At the same meeting, Richardson also told undercover agents that he paid Alkins’ cousin, Rodney Labossier, $2,000 a month after he moved to Tucson, Arizona.
Nor has Auburn indicated whether it has received any notification of fees from the NCAA or whether it has responded to outstanding ESPN applications. In a victim impact assessment in the conviction documents, Auburn stated that he expected to be indicted for violating the NCAA.
The man, a former assistant head coach of the Tigers, was charged with extortion and receiving at least $91,500 from Blazer and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to pay bribes on one count.
The man was also accused of helping gambling families make money. The government said they paid $11,000 to one player’s family and $7,500 to another player’s family.
Austin Wiley and Daniel Purifoy of Auburn were declared unfit for the 2017-18 season after the university itself reported violations related to recruitment, fringe benefits and agents. Purifei is also banned with 30% in the 2018-19 season and has not played the first nine games of the season.
In August 2019, AL.com reported that the Tigers themselves imposed recruitment restrictions from September 2017 to April 2018. The school didn’t make public the punishment it imposed on itself.
Creighton, a private university, has yet to confirm if he’s aware of the charges. Sources have already reported to ESPN that the Bluejays are charged with at least one alleged rule violation involving former assistant coach Preston Murphy.
Murphy was placed on administrative leave in March 2019 after being sued in a federal indictment for taking $6,000 from Dawkins to send players to the Dawkins management company in a hotel room in Las Vegas in 2017. Murphy hasn’t been charged with a felony.
Dawkins’ lawyer said that Murphy Dawkins gave him his money back after the meeting. Murphy retired in November 2019.
In September 2019, the Jaihouki were informed of the accusations and accused of five violations of first-level rules, including a lack of institutional supervision.
Self is accused of violating the responsibility of the Head Coach. The case will be dealt with through the IARC process.
NCAA law enforcement officials have described abuses in Kansas as blatant and cruel, and as abuses that significantly undermine and threaten the NCAA collegiate model.
Kansas is also charged with two Level II violations and a Level III violation in connection with a football programme run by former coach David Beaty.
Kansas officials, along with team manager and basketball assistant Curtis Townsend, challenge each of the five Level I violations related to the men’s basketball program and each of the nine aggravating factors cited by the NCAA.
Fault! The file name is not specified. Bill Self is charged with violating the responsibility of the head coach, while Kansas is charged with a lack of institutional control. Jay Biggerstaff/U.S.A. Sports today.
In particular, the university and I deny that Adidas or its employees were sponsors of the program.
In September 2019, former Adidas consultant T.J. Hassnola received a suspended sentence and a fine for his role in paid gambling programs to send recruits to the Jeyhawks and other Adidas-sponsored programs.
Former Adidas CEO James Gatto was accused of paying $90,000 from Adidas, along with Gassnola, to Billy Preston’s former mother Jayhawks and agreed to pay $20,000 to Fenny Falman, De Sousa’s guardian, to help him out of the game so he could make a paid trip to Maryland, sponsored by Under Armour.
The NCAA also contained allegations that Hassnola had provided $15,000 to an unknown individual to give to DeAndre Ayton’s mother and that Hassnola had sent a text message to Self that he had failed to give when Ayton signed the Arizona deal.
The cardinals were informed of the charge in May and their case will also be heard before the IIDA.
The NCAA has charged Louisville with one Level 1 indictment for improperly offering employment to Brian Bowen II and the other Level 1 coach, and three Level 2 indictments including Pitino. Louisville is also accused of failing to exercise sufficient control over the hiring of a new studio student.
The NCAA states that Pitino will not have fulfilled his duties as head coach if he has not contributed to a climate of compliance. Former assistant coaches Kenny Johnson and Jordan Fair have been charged with providing unacceptable services and vehicles and having inappropriate contact with recruits.
As in the case of Kansas, law enforcement officials claimed that Adidas, his employees and partners were initiators and agents of Louisville during the alleged violations and therefore acted on his behalf when allegedly involved in violations of the NCAA statutes.
Since 1996, cardinals have been subjected to the NCAA trial three times, which is described as an aggravating circumstance of the NCAA. Enforcement officials also noted that at a time when Pitino had failed to promote Bowen’s recruitment requirements in his program, he was awaiting the decision of the Foulings Committee, and that decision resulted in the issue of a liability order for the foul committed by the first level coach.
In August, ESPN reported that NCAA compliance officers reported that Wade had arranged, offered and/or provided unacceptable payments, including cash payments, to at least 11 potential male basketball students, family members, individuals associated with promising and/or unhealthy coaches in exchange for the registration of promising students at the LSU.
Next month, the NCAA announced that the USL case would be handled by the IARP.
Earlier this year the HBO documentary contained sound recordings in which Wade talked about a strong offer to draw a noisy recruiter. The project included the recording of a long telephone conversation between Wade and Dawkins, during which Wade discussed a proposal for the signing of the coveted guard Yavont Smart.
ESPN and Yahoo Sports have already reported on the content of the call.
Wad, who was suspended from the game and reportedly reinstated in 2019, refused to do business with Dawkins.
I think the only way to interpret someone in a coaching position is to say that they made a hard offer and didn’t talk about the stock market offer, brother, Dawkins said in a documentary. One hundred percent talk about money.
The notification of Wolfpack’s indictment was received in July 2019 and his case will also be dealt with by the IARP. The NCAA has reported two first-level violations against the school, including allegations of neglect for the control of former Gottfried bus, which currently operates as a bus at Cal State Northridge.
Former Wolfpack assistant Orlando Ryan is accused of helping the family of star player Dennis Smith Jr. to pay $40,000 to Hassnola in October 2015.
The NCAA has declared Smith ineligible to attend all 32 wolfpack events for the 2016-17 season, earning him a CCA Rookie of the Year award.
NK officials wondered if there was enough evidence to support the NCAA’s claim that Hassnola gave early $40,000, which should have made it easier for the Smith family to get the money.
Wolfpak claimed that Adidas, which was considered by law enforcement authorities to be an accelerator of the CN Member State, was not the source of the alleged payment of USD 40 000. NC State claims that the money originated from Martin Fox, a Texas-based intermediary associated with professional basketball agents and corporate executives and has no known connection to Adidas.
In June, the NCAA Injury Committee imposed a three-year suspended sentence on the cowboys and forbade them from participating in post-season tournaments this season.
The fines were imposed on former assistant head coach Lamont Evans for a Level 1 offense, who was sentenced to three months imprisonment in June 2019 for accepting bribes of between $18,150 and $22,000.
TUN, which also reduced the scholarships and paid a fine, appealed against the sanctions. The NCAA also fined Evans 10 years for the show.
In February, the hammocks announced that they had received a report of accusations concerning Evans’ behavior during his training there. South Carolina has stated that she has been indicted for a Level I declaration, referring to the fact that she has not been indicted for the same crime in 2015-16. Evans received at least $5,865 in bribes from Dawkins.
Dawkins would have paid Evans to arrange meetings with PJ Dozier, the then Gamecock star, and his family. At the time, Dawkins worked for NBA agent Andy Miller of ASM Sports.
In January, Horned Frogs announced that he had received a report of alleged offenses against former assistant coach Corey Barker, who was accused by the prosecution of accepting a $6,000 bribe from Dawkins.
Like Murphy, Barker was mentioned in the charges against Cod and Dawkins. TCU released Barker in March 2019.
Dawkins testified that Barker returned the money shortly after he met her in a hotel room in Las Vegas in July 2017. Barker’s never been accused of a crime.
In December, the Trojans said they had been informed of the accusations, but refused to publish them or discuss the alleged violations.
Former Troyens assistant coach Tony Bland admitted that he conspired to pay bribes in January 2019, agreeing to take $4,100 in cash to send players to certain financial advisors and school principals once they had become professional.
In January 2018, USC suspended De’Anthony Melton’s defender for the entire season after identifying a close friend of the family, which gave him an extra advantage. This friend, Dave Elliott, allegedly bought a plane ticket and possibly a hotel room at a basketball tournament in Las Vegas, according to Melton’s lawyer, Vicki Podberecki. Melton left school the next month and became a prof.
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