1:02 pm | October 24, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
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David M. Hale
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Myron Medcalf
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ESPN Staff Writer
- Covers college basketball
- Joined ESPN.com in 2011
- Graduate of Minnesota State University, Mankato
The biggest topic at both ACC and Big 12 media days was the ongoing FBI investigation and subsequent corruption trials surrounding college basketball, with some of the sport’s biggest names working to downplay the pervasiveness of the scandal before a jury reached its verdict later Wednesday.
“I could be naive, but I’ve been in college basketball for 43 years, and I’ve never been asked for money, and I’ve never asked anybody to give anybody money,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said, echoing comments from North Carolina’s Roy Williams and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski. “It’s very damaging what’s happened, and that’s not good for college basketball.”
Last season, four Division I assistants and multiple individuals affiliated with Adidas were arrested as part of a bribery investigation that altered the sport.
On Wednesday in New York, a jury convicted the three defendants accused of pay-for-play schemes to influence high-profile basketball recruits to attend Kansas, Louisville and NC State. Adidas employee James Gatto, former Adidas consultant Merl Code and Christian Dawkins, a former runner for NBA agent Andy Miller, were found guilty after the three-week criminal trial in federal court.
During the trial, T.J. Gassnola, a former Adidas consultant and key witness, claimed he arranged payments to the families of former Kansas player Billy Preston and current player Silvio De Sousa, who has been suspended indefinitely. Gassnola claimed that neither Bill Self nor Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend were aware of any pay-for-play arrangements, but an attorney for Gatto said the payment to De Sousa’s family was requested by Self.
Multiple text exchanges between Gassnola, Self and Townsend were presented as evidence during the trial.
Self was asked about the trial at Big 12 media day Wednesday in Kansas City, Missouri.
“I know you guys want to talk basketball with me, but before we can get to that I just want to let you know that due to the trial in New York being ongoing, I will refrain from any comment that is directly related to the trial due to the fact that there has been a mandate given to me, and certainly, I will honor that,” Self said, before the jury reached its verdict Wednesday afternoon.
With the trial concluded, the Hall of Fame coach is expected to release a statement later Wednesday, Kansas said.
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said he spoke with Self on Tuesday night but didn’t ask him about the allegations because “I knew he wouldn’t be able to answer.” Bowlsby also said the conference would not get involved unless the allegations in the trial became “matters of fact.”
“I’m certainly not gonna prejudge any outcome,” Bowlsby said. “There are lots of things that get bantered about in the media or anecdotally come up and don’t have anything to do with what’s going on in the courtroom. We’re just going to have to wait and see. We’ll respond appropriately.”
He added: “I’ll react to those allegations when they become matters of fact.”
Williams said the evidence that came out during court proceedings regarding UNC player Nassir Little have vindicated the family; text messages between Dawkins and Little’s former AAU coach, Brad Augustine, appeared to show no wrongdoing. Krzyzewski downplayed any involvement from one of his freshmen, Zion Williamson, last week, saying the nation’s No. 2 overall recruit has been through thorough vetting by the NCAA.
Both Williams and Krzyzewski raised eyebrows in the past week by suggesting that payments to players around college basketball were infrequent, with the Duke coach calling the trial “a blip” in the overall scope of the sport.
Former Duke assistant and current Pitt coach Jeff Capel said those comments likely reflect the firsthand knowledge Krzyzewski has of the situation.
“If it’s something that hurts our game, I think it’s a big issue,” Capel said. “But I don’t think everyone’s involved or would know the ins and outs of what’s happened in the trial, and he wouldn’t know because he’s not involved that deep in recruiting.”
West Virginia’s Bob Huggins offered similar comments, saying the FBI investigation should not affect the collective perception of college basketball.
“If, in fact, which I don’t think has been proven yet any of those things happened, they shouldn’t have happened,” Huggins said. But you’re talking about what, four or five schools at the most? … If things happened, we all know they shouldn’t have happened, but that doesn’t affect the state of our game and the way people go about doing their business.”
ACC commissioner John Swofford said that his league continues to evaluate proper ways to implement the findings of the Rice Commission, but that much of the evaluation of the biggest impacts of the FBI investigation may not be known for years, as the trials continue to play out.
In the interim, Boeheim and Williams were among the coaches who offered support for an Olympics-style model of compensation for players, whereby they could use their name and likeness to earn money but would not be directly compensated by the schools. Williams said he’s discussed this with former NFL star Peyton Manning, who’d lamented the significant number of jerseys sold with his number during his days at Tennessee for which he received no financial benefit.
“I’m not in favor of compensation,” Williams said, “but if you use a kid’s likeness, I’m in big favor of that.”
Swofford said that topic has been discussed among conference commissioners but has been tabled while they observe how the FBI investigation unfolds.
That’s been a common refrain from the sport’s executives, even as coaches work to repair the sport’s image.
“Hopefully we find a collective way to address this subculture that had a light shone on it and clean that aspect up,” Swofford said. “I don’t know how prevalent it is. I don’t think it’s terribly prevalent.”
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