https://thespaces.com/nike-turns-chicago-church-into-a-basketball-hq/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/spor...-tried-pay-brian-bowen-commitment/1510924002/
Adidas executive's lawyer says Nike-sponsored Oregon tried to pay Brian Bowen
Danielle Lerner, Louisville Courier JournalPublished 12:48 p.m. ET Oct. 3, 2018
A defense attorney said in federal court Tuesday that the Oregon men's college basketball program tried to arrange a massive payment to land star recruit Brian Bowen, the former University of Louisville recruit at the center of the FBI's pay-for-play investigation.
Federal agents say that Adidas officials and other advisers conspired in an attempt to funnel payments totaling $100,000 to Bowen's father in exchange for his commitment to play for Louisville.
An attorney for Adidas executive James Gatto, one of three defendants on trial in New York, reportedly claimed Tuesday that the $100,000 deal was made to compete with an offer from Nike-sponsored University of Oregon.
According to Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel, Gatto's attorney said Oregon offered Bowen an "astronomical amount of money" to play basketball for the Ducks.
Stadium reporter Jeff Goodman reported that Bowen's father, Brian Bowen Sr., made a deal to testify for the government in order to avoid prosecution.
Gatto's attorney, Casey Donnelly, also reportedly said in opening remarks that Under Armour offered Silvio De Sousa $20,000 to sign with Maryland and that Nike-sponsored Arizona offered $150,000 for Nassir Little. De Sousa ended up signing with Kansas, an Adidas school, while Little signed with North Carolina, a Nike school.
While Assistant U.S. Attorney Eli Mark repeatedly said the schools are victims and urged a Manhattan federal court jury to convict Gatto and two other men of fraud charges, Donnelly argued that major college basketball programs were complicit because they stood to make so much money themselves.
Her client "was not trying to hurt these universities, he's trying to help them. ... He's supposed to help these schools shine," Donnelly said. "When Jim was helping these families, he felt he was doing his job."
Attorneys for Gatto and former Adidas consultant Merl Code acknowledged their clients broke NCAA rules by funneling cash to families of college recruits.
Donnelly, however, said her client had no intention to harm Louisville because steering top athletes to schools was a "win, win, win," good for the school, good for Adidas and good for the athlete.
Attorney Steven Haney Sr., representing aspiring sports agent Christian Dawkins, said his client had known Bowen many years, considered him a younger brother, and believed any financial help fell under an NCAA exemption permitting help to be given by anyone with a pre-existing relationship with the athlete.
Haney said Dawkins believed that "helping these poor families was what the schools wanted ... by any means necessary."
From June to September 2017, the FBI used wiretaps to monitor calls from cell phones belonging to Gatto, Code and Dawkins. ESPN's Jeff Borzello reported that the earliest wiretaps were placed June 19, roughly two weeks after Bowen committed to Louisville.
Attorneys for the University of Louisville Athletic Association previously alleged that former Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino knew other schools were attempting to pay Bowen for his commitment.
According to documents in Pitino's lawsuit against the ULAA, Pitino texted former Cards assistant coach Kenny Johnson that "DePaul (was) trying to pay Bowen 200k to come there. Crazy world!"
Attorneys said Dawkins had texted Pitino previously on June 2 asking the coach to call Bowen's father as there were concerns about third parties trying to influence Bowen's college choice. On June 3, Bowen committed to Louisville.
Pitino told the Courier Journal he never believed DePaul University had the means to spend $200,000 on Bowen and said the five-star recruit was not a good enough prospect to justify such an offer.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
https://usatodayhss.com/2018/marvin-bagley-family-benefits-nike-investigation
https://www.nashvillepost.com/sport...p-romeo-langford-from-signing-with-vanderbilt
Friday, October 05, 2018 1:00 am
Top recruit's dad tells of schools' offers
TOM HAYS | Associated Press
NEW YORK – The father of a top-rated college basketball prospect testified Thursday that his son was offered thousands of dollars on the sly to play at major programs before a corruption scandal derailed the promising player's collegiate career.
At a federal trial over allegations about dirty money in college hoops, Brian Bowen Sr. said that an aspiring agent, Christian Dawkins, told the father he could pocket $50,000 if his son played at the University of Arizona, $150,000 at Oklahoma State or $100,000 at Creighton. Bowen said there was some interest from Oregon but didn't recall cash offer.
Bowen told a Manhattan jury it was his understanding the offers were being made by assistant coaches at the schools, though he never spoke to them directly about money. He said the Oklahoma offer, which included an additional $8,000 for a car, came from then-assistant coach Lamont Evans, a defendant in the investigation who's pleaded not guilty.
Dawkins, former amateur coach Merle Code and former Adidas executive James Gatto, have pleaded not guilty to they committed fraud by secretly funneling money from Adidas to families of prospects to get them to attend colleges sponsored by the athletic wear company. The son, Brian Bowen Jr., eventually landed at Louisville, an Adidas school, after the defendants engineered a promise of $100,000 for his family.
Gatto's attorney and a taped conversation in evidence at the trial have suggested the deal to sign with Louisville had to compete with an undisclosed offer to lure Brian Bowen Jr. to Oregon, which is sponsored by Nike. Oregon has denied it knew of any deal.
The criminal case announced last year charging the three men with fraud resulted in the school pulling the son's scholarship before he could ever play and firing its legendary coach, Rick Pitino.
Before his testimony about the alleged offers, the elder Bowen grew emotional when a prosecutor first brought up his son, who goes by the nickname “Tugs.”
“Is Tugs in college?” asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Diskant.
“No, he's not,” Bowen responded.
When the prosecutor asked why not, Bowen dropped his head into his hands and wept, prompting the judge to call a recess.
Brian Bowen Jr. now plays professionally in Australia.
http://www.journalgazette.net/sports/colleges/20181005/top-recruits-dad-tells-of-schools-offers
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