Adidas executive James Gatto was among three men found guilty in a US court on Wednesday of conspiring to make illegal payments aimed at recruiting promising players to universities affiliated with the sportswear giant.
Gatto, the company’s director of global sports marketing for basketball, and former Adidas consultant Merl Code were convicted along with sports agent Christian Dawkins on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to funnel US$100,000 to the family of former University of Louisville player Brian Bowen.
In similar schemes, money was funneled from Adidas to promising players who ended up at the University of Kansas and North Carolina State University — both sponsored by the company.
“Today’s convictions expose an underground culture of illicit payments, deception and corruption in the world of college basketball,” prosecutor Robert Khuzami said.
“These defendants now stand convicted of not simply flouting the rules, but breaking the law for their own personal gain,” he added. “As a jury has now found, the defendants not only deceived universities into issuing scholarships under false pretenses, they deprived the universities of their economic rights and tarnished an ideal which makes college sports a beloved tradition by so many fans all over the world.”
Evidence in the trial included text messages between the defendants and coaches from high-profile university basketball programs that feed players to the NBA.
Bowen’s father testified that a University of Louisville assistant coach once gave him an envelope full of cash.
The defendants pleaded not guilty, but did not deny they sought to make the payments.
They argued that it was standard practice by apparel manufacturers, who stood to form lucrative associations with the players once they made it to the NBA.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association forbids monetary inducements to players.
The trio are scheduled to be sentenced on March 5 next year, although Gatto’s attorney, Michael Schachter, said he would appeal.
Adidas issued a statement saying it remains committed to ethical business practices.
The case was just one resulting from a massive FBI investigation that exposed the “dark underbelly of college basketball,” federal prosecutors said.
Four coaches associated with top universities sponsored by Nike and Under Armour were also named in indictments earlier this year.
Former Auburn University assistant coach Chuck Person and financial adviser Rashan Michel are to be tried in February.
Tony Bland, Brook Richardson and Lamont Evans, all former assistant coaches at different universities, are scheduled to go on trial in April.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was