FBI arrrests several NCAA asst Basketball Coaches
Press conference at Noon.
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/press-conference-advisory-2
September 26th, 2017 at 9:31 AM ^
And representatives of a major international sportswear company.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
Jim Gatto is employed as their "Director of Global Sports Marketing."
September 26th, 2017 at 11:28 AM ^
September 26th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^
Does anyone recognize those names. One says U.S. v. Chuck Person.....didn't he used to play for the Indiana Pacers and now coaches at Auburn?
EDIT/UPDATE: That's the guy. Some of the other names ring a bell too. James Gatto is probably Jim Gatto is a big figure NYC HS basketball circles. Lamont Evans is an assistant coach at Oklahoma State.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:39 AM ^
https://youtu.be/uFWNlN19jCQ
September 26th, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
Looks like he used to be an NBA Ref but you're right, he's the one who got into an altercation with Dominique Wilkins a while back.
September 26th, 2017 at 10:57 AM ^
While we all clearly want our biggest rival* to suffer, hopefully whatever is in the complaint was not going on under Underwood, or at least won't be coming with him.
* Illinois...duh. Sorry Rutgers.
September 26th, 2017 at 2:12 PM ^
September 26th, 2017 at 9:33 AM ^
September 26th, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
Louisville is caught up in this again. Rick Pitiino's assistants really need to stop cheating behind his back...
September 26th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^
Are there any B1G ass't coaches in the lawsuit?
September 26th, 2017 at 3:19 PM ^
No, but the investigation is ongoing and as the FBI put it "we have your playbook now."
If you are a coach at an adidas school -- or any school for that matter -- you're probably spending the afternoon in a cold sweat.
According to wikipedia, these are the power 5 adidas schools:
Arizona State, Indiana, Kansas, Louisville, Miami, Miss. St., NC State, Nebraska, Rutgers, Texas A&M.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^
Lamont Evans was an Assistant Coach at South Carolina, now at Oklahoma State.
Chuck Person is an Assistant Coach at Auburn.
And Jim Gatto is employed by Adidas as the "Director of Global Sports Marketing."
I assume not all schools that used Adidas apparel engaged in this behavior... really glad that we have Beilein!
September 26th, 2017 at 2:15 PM ^
September 26th, 2017 at 9:42 AM ^
Looks like one of them is an assistant at Oklahoma State for Brad Underwood.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:45 AM ^
Those links at the bottom have all the charges if you click them. CHuck Person, Jim Gatto, Lamont Evans (Oklahoma State) and others listed... and you can read about exactly what they allegedly did.
Apparently there were cooperating witnesses, payments to coaches, etc.
September 26th, 2017 at 10:00 AM ^
I wonder how much (if at all) the Feds have told the NCAA.
I could totally see this being the first the NCAA heard of any of this. Regardless, I sense the great squeeky toy hammer of the NCAA preparing to swing.
September 26th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
Definitely the first the NCAA has heard of it. If you're the FBI, why would you tell them anything? For all we know, they might have NCAA officials being compliant with some of this.
And it will be curious to see what happens NCAA punishment wise out of all of this. The FBI has the tools to get to the truth and coerce people into confessing that the NCAA only wishes they have. Can't remember if there was ever a time the feds were involved in a nromal NCAA cheating scandal. They were obvisouly involved with Sandusky, but that was a different matter. Not your normal paying players under the table scandal.
Either way, you gotta think Louisville is fucked. The FBI has them meeting an Adidas rep in Vegas a little over a month after the NCAA gave them punishment and put them on probation.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:49 AM ^
A little summary would be nice. Arrested for what?
September 26th, 2017 at 9:51 AM ^
Looks like illicit payments to coaches and HS athletes.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:55 AM ^
Various forms of bribery.
(i) Agents paying high schoolers' families to get them to commit to certain universities; and (ii) Coaches accepting bribes to steer college players to agents.
September 26th, 2017 at 4:27 PM ^
Seems like 'Tax Evasion' might rear its ugly head at some point too. If cash payments.
September 26th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^
They have Louisville paying Brian Bowen $100k for his commitment. On the wire tap, they have them arranging payment (4 installments of $25k) and then Bowen committing a few days later after it was all finalized.
Pitino was also quoted after the original commitment saying Lousiville "got lucky" with this one. Fucking liar. Between the lingering hooker scandal stank, and now this one, I don't see how Pitino keeps his job. Unlike the NCAA who has no real threats they can levy, the FBI is going to tell you to fuck off with your "I didn't know" bullshit. When people are being threatened with real jail time, they'll roll over on Pitino REAL quick.
September 26th, 2017 at 12:30 PM ^
Beating them in the tournament this year was so sweet.
September 26th, 2017 at 9:53 AM ^
Not sure why..
September 26th, 2017 at 10:40 AM ^
September 26th, 2017 at 1:57 PM ^
And the FBI will tell him they don't give a shit. That ain't gonna fly with the feds.
September 26th, 2017 at 2:20 PM ^
September 26th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
This is bigger than just these coaches...in the legal briefs there are other actors involved including an apparel company
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/998746/download
Bottom of page 9 gets pretty descriptive
September 26th, 2017 at 9:56 AM ^
In one of the complaints it mentions a University in the state of Kentucky and Florida being involved.
September 26th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
is going to drop the fucking hammer on Big Sandy Community and Technical College and Ave Maria University.
September 26th, 2017 at 10:31 AM ^
It's Louisville and Miami. The enrollment figures and number of sports offered match up exactly with those cited in the complaint. The other schools involved with the other complaints appear to be Auburn, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Southern California and Arizona.
September 26th, 2017 at 10:38 AM ^
Louisville again???? Aren't they currently on probation for the hooker thing? Does this mean the squeeky hammer gets put aside and they might actually get the Death Penalty?
EDIT: (From and article): In one instance, Gatto and the other defendants reportedly funneled $100,000 to the family of a high school basketball player to convince the player to sign with a "public research university" in Kentucky. The complaint doesn't name the university. Based on details provided, it is likely the University of Louisville, which signed a $160 million sponsorship deal with Adidas in August.
September 26th, 2017 at 10:49 AM ^
Those iffy calls by the refs are all the more grading.
September 26th, 2017 at 11:01 AM ^
if a former ref was on the take in this, what are the odds payments were going to active refs in order to help Adidas players/schools?? Iffy calls for sale?
September 26th, 2017 at 11:29 AM ^
Wasn't Michigan an Adidas school when they played Louisville for the NC?
September 26th, 2017 at 3:27 PM ^
Shhhhhh
September 26th, 2017 at 11:07 AM ^
*grating
Just fyi.
September 26th, 2017 at 12:08 PM ^
I did that once when I was zesting a lemon. I ended up grating my fingernail all the way down to the soft tissue. It didn't bleed, but it hurt like hell for weeks.
September 26th, 2017 at 2:25 PM ^
them refs poorly. Don't tell me what to do.
September 26th, 2017 at 1:09 PM ^
Cumong man!
September 26th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
does not mess around with cases like this. They take their time and build the case methodically, with no stone left unturned. It is going to be bad - I wouldn't be surprised if this goes beyond the direct defendants, and steamrolls into the relationship of college athletics and corporate sponsorships. The NCAA has been dancing around this issue for a while now - but you can only do that for so long. Will be interesting to see where this goes...
September 26th, 2017 at 12:17 PM ^
The NCAA takes their time alright. Just look at Ole Miss and NCU. Despite the fact that the proof is all layed out, they will need to investigate for 3 more years. By then all of these coaches will have left or retired and nothing will happen.
September 26th, 2017 at 2:07 PM ^
The NCAA takes their time because they don't have the powers of subpeona or the ability to wire tap, or do records searches, or force people to cooperate. And what looks "laid out" to you, isn't going to look "laid out" to a court when the NCAA or a school get sued for slander or for a coach being unfairly terminated.
Pretty much anytime the NCAA is able to bring down the hammer on someone or something its because someone involved was wrapped up in a legal case and they had access to that information. And then they can go after people with hard facts. Like that's the whole reason Hugh Freeze is fired. Houston Nutt sued Ole Miss and requested some records for their lawsuit.
The only time the NCAA is able to get dirt on people is when they willingly cooperate. They can go to Pitino's assistants and say "tell us what you know about X" and they can just say no. Or they give them just enough to make them go away and so they don't lose their job, which really isn't that much of a deterant in the first place because they pretty much always find a new job elsewhere.
The FBI on the other hand can say "tell us what you know about X because your options are go to jail 2 years or 20 years." And then you tell them all you know because that's some serious shit.
September 26th, 2017 at 12:33 PM ^
no reason to not do a deal with the Feds and start turning on folks higher up. Not infreqnetly the way they approach this. Bet the "burn and delete" brigade at L'ville are on overtime this week.
September 26th, 2017 at 2:11 PM ^
Just like they did with Hillary Clinton...Sorry but it turns out the FBI has its own corruption issues