Anew report from Yahoo Sports suggests that several prominent universities could be implicated in a wide-ranging FBI probe of college basketball.
A former NBA agent, his former associate, and their agency gave cash advances to college basketball players, paid for meals and travel expenses, and paid advances to some recruits’ parents, according documents reviewed by Yahoo. That activity would most likely break National Collegiate Athletic Association rules about paying players.
The documents came out after the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminally charged 10 people, including four college coaches, in September 2017. The charges followed a federal investigation that found that the coaches had been paid bribes to influence college athletes.
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Mike Ehrmann, Getty Images
Anew report from Yahoo Sports suggests that several prominent universities could be implicated in a wide-ranging FBI probe of college basketball.
A former NBA agent, his former associate, and their agency gave cash advances to college basketball players, paid for meals and travel expenses, and paid advances to some recruits’ parents, according documents reviewed by Yahoo. That activity would most likely break National Collegiate Athletic Association rules about paying players.
The documents came out after the Federal Bureau of Investigation criminally charged 10 people, including four college coaches, in September 2017. The charges followed a federal investigation that found that the coaches had been paid bribes to influence college athletes.
Some basketball players received thousands in payments from ASM Sports, the agency named in the new report, according to the documents. At least 20 programs could be implicated, including Duke University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Kentucky, Yahoo reported.
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For example, Markelle Fultz, a former point guard for the University of Washington, received $10,000, according to an agency balance sheet labeled “Loan to Players,” Yahoo reported. Fultz later became the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft but did not sign a contract with the agency.
Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA, said in a written statement that the allegations in the report show “systematic failures” in collegiate sports.
“These allegations, if true, point to systematic failures that must be fixed and fixed now if we want college sports in America,” the statement says. “Simply put, people who engage in this kind of behavior have no place in college sports. They are an affront to all those who play by the rules.”
Emmert also wrote that the independent Commission on College Basketball, formed by the NCAA last year after the charges were announced, will “provide recommendations on how to clean up the sport.”
Update (2/25/2018, 10:06 a.m.): Sean Miller, the head basketball coach at the University of Arizona, was sidelined for a game against the University of Oregon on Saturday after FBI wiretaps revealed he had discussed a $100,000 payment to lock a recruit.
Fernanda is the engagement editor at The Chronicle. She is the voice behind Chronicle newsletters like the Weekly Briefing, Five Weeks to a Better Semester, and more. She also writes about what Chronicle readers are thinking. Send her an email at fernanda@chronicle.com.
