Report: Three Dozen Programs Could Be Punished for Recruiting Violations After FBI Probe
As many as three dozen programs could face discipline in connection with the FBI's probe into recruiting violations across college basketball, according to ESPN's Mark Schlabach.
The college basketball world was turned upside down on Sept. 29 when the the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York laid out findings from an F.B.I. investigation that uncovered mass corruption, bribery and wire fraud involving some of the sport's top programs. But none of the programs implicated in the FBI probe—including Arizona, Louisville, USC, Oklahoma State, Auburn and Miami—have yet been punished by the NCAA as the FBI continues its investigation and while legal proceedings play out.
Four assistant coaches have been formally charged with varying violations: Tony Bland of USC, Emanuel "Book" Richardson of Arizona, Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State and Chuck Person of Auburn. Also charged were former Adidas executives James Gatto and Merl Code, clothing designer Rashan Michel and financial adviser Munish Sood.
Schlabach's report—which also says that Gatto and Code are seeking to have their charges dropped on the grounds that their conduct did not violate federal law—would seem to suggest that the FBI has investigated dozens of programs that have not yet been connected to the probe.
"It's not the mid-major programs who were trying to buy players to get to the top," a source told ESPN. "It's the teams that are already there."
While the alleged activities cited in the complaints submitted by the U.S. Attorney's Office vary, there was a pattern—men not involved with college basketball funneled money, often through assistant coaches, to recruits to incentivize them to commit to a specific school. In return, those recruits would do business with the men after leaving college.
The probe led to the firing of Louisville coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich. Pitino is accused of being aware of a $100,000 payment made to the family of Brian Bowen to secure his commitment to Louisville. Multiple other similar occurences at other marquee programs are described in the complaints.
