FBI arrests Assistant Basketball Coaches in Corruption Scheme

[CuseFaninVT]

Oops

Georgia Tech Announces Partnership With Adidas Starting In 2018

My son's high school just announced a partnership with Adidas. I'm intrigued to see if that changes. They gave us a grant of $25K to help with the name change from the Rebels to the Wolves...

 

[AZOrange]

No matter how many schools get indicted in this, I don't think Kentucky will be one. Funneling money to recruits from the sneaker/clothing entities isn't how they roll. They have their own personal sugar daddies. No need for this convaluted quagmire.

Hope I'm wrong.

I agree on paying recruits but not sure on the directing players to agents bit. That could be their weakness...

 

[themorey]

I agree on paying recruits but not sure on the directing players to agents bit. That could be their weakness...

Adidas was, according to FBI wiretaps, creating false orders to hide the payments. Lots of illegal activity going on here.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Any special relevancy that the US attorney for the Southern District of New York geographically speaking seems to be leading a national investigation?

I thought he was too busy going after axe capital

 

[orange79]

I didn't say that though.

I know you didn't. I was mainly responding to you saying you didn't think Kentucky would be one of the schools involved. I was agreeing with you and giving a reason why.

 

[AZOrange]

Adidas was, according to FBI wiretaps, creating false orders to hide the payments. Lots of illegal activity going on here.

Wow. Now you've got corp governance/board/sec issues. Yeesh

 

[cliftonparksufan]

Oh please God let it be Kentucky...

I'm 100% convinced that Cal and WWW are funneling their money through off shore accounts. Seven figures each.

 

[texascpa]

It used to be the rule that they're taxable (to the donor) if they're over the yearly limit (14k). But now they have to exceed the lifetime exemption to be taxable, correct?

You still have $14k annual limit but you get to apply the lifetime exclusion before paying any tax.

 

[shandeezy7]

Adidas was, according to FBI wiretaps, creating false orders to hide the payments. Lots of illegal activity going on here.

That's gotta be some sort of SEC issue, right. Misleading financial statements? Something?

 

[chugg21]

I thought he was too busy going after axe capital

All I've been thinking about all day was Billions because of the US Atty in the Southern District.

 

[TexanMark]

I was thinking if some ass't coaches knew there were some players were making more than they themselves were.

Not quite true...in most of these cases the family or guardians feel entitled to get a huge cut. Frankly, I think most of this is pushed by adults in the their 30s-60s. The players mostly are too immature to realize the implications of taking payola.

 

[TinyManInside]

The thing that is crazy to me in all this is that the funneling of money is coming from very traceable sources. It doesn't seem very smart to have a top assistant directly involved in this sort of thing. Too easy to get back to the head coach and university.

Another thing to consider here - there's more than one way to skin a cat.

When I was closely covering/following recruiting in the mid 2000s I was told that several schools (um, can you smell the tobacco burning?) use boosters for making the deals and delivering the goods... the coaches identify the kids they're recruiting, and the booster independently handles contacting the kid/family and makes the negotiations/delivery. In most cases the coach doesn't even know the terms of the deal, he just knows the kid signed the LOI.

This is smart for 'plausible deniability' - if the school gets caught, the response is "OH NO, that's just a rouge booster, whatever are we to do????"

But once you have your assistants directly involved, it gets a whole lot harder to say "gosh, golly-gee I had no idea this was going on" if you're the head coach.

So for everyone clamoring for Kentucky to go down, they might not be operating in the manner that is currently being investigated. It appears the focus of the investigation is a closed-loop 'sneaker company/agent/university' system. It's possible that there are other universities cheating their pants off, but just not in the way that the current investigation is focused. Since the FBI opened up a hotline, they're probably fishing for other inducement systems outside of the current investigatory window?

Mason

 

[JarHeadJim]

 

[llandz]

Just for clarification, gifts are taxable to the giver NOT the receiver.

My sister in law had a big thing with an Uncle who gave her $100k to purchase her NYC apartment a few years ago. He refused to pay the taxes on it, and she had to pay them. She is a corporate attorney. That is where I get this from.

 

[JKinPhilly]

Tip: Use correct grammar when you're pretending outrage: "The nature of the charges brought by the federal government IS deeply disturbing ... "

Basic grammar is not in the NCAA's wheelhouse

 

[TinyManInside]

Yeah, Kentucky doesn't need to cheat anymore. Calamari is reaping the benefits of not getting caught after cheating for years.

I was actually told exactly this same thing last year from a source that is usually super solid... but then Quade Greene happened, so I don't believe it.

 

[SUbear]

Wasn't referring to taxes. I was talking about market value.

If Player A is worth $100k under the table, then he is worth $500k-$1M in the open market.

This surely will open up tax evasion charges against any player or coach who got paid anything under the table and did not declare the money. These charges will be the tip of a very large iceberg.

 

[AZOrange]

That's gotta be some sort of SEC issue, right. Misleading financial statements? Something?

Yes. SOX will be a biggie potentially. All kinds of problems here though

 

[Jake]

Okay, well, I thought I'd weigh in a bit here. First of all, if you have a favorite college basketball team, you should worry. This scandal could hit any program as it goes forward.

How should I describe dirty recruiting? Its like filing out your taxes.

>1% of them fill out all the forms correctly and do not lie or exaggerate anything

>69% stretch the meaning of the law to fit their situation

>29.9999% flat out lie and make stuff up that isn't true.

>Kentucky killed their grandparents, hid them in the basement and are continuing to cash their SS checks.

Teams caught today are in the 29.9999999% category.

We're in the 69% group---but the details of which for any of these programs would be unflattering.

Some other thoughts:

Fran Fraschilla is going to be asked how he knew a month ahead of time.

The entire Louisville hoops program is going to be nuked. AD to ball boy. They will be lucky if they are allowed to play this year. Even their resident apologist Forde is on board.

So the NCAA was left in the dark? - not surprising, but I certainly wouldn't doubt that someone at the NCAA took money from a shoe company to keep one of their teams off probation. The NCAA is corrupt with a capital C.

Miami is going to get hit hard - its their second big scandal.

Jalen Carey is ours...

 

[reedny]

This surely will open up tax evasion charges against any player or coach who got paid anything under the table and did not declare the money. These charges will be the tip of a very large iceberg.

The question isn't whether any of this was illegal (IMO). The challenge is picking which crime to prosecute. There's so much: false reporting with the IRS; false financial disclosures to the DOE; false reporting to the NCAA amounting to fraud in interstate commerce; bribery; money laundering; wire fraud; conspiracy ... ... it's a legal buffet. Pick your entree.

 

[AZOrange]

My sister in law had a big thing with an Uncle who gave her $100k to purchase her NYC apartment a few years ago. He refused to pay the taxes on it, and she had to pay them. She is a corporate attorney. That is where I get this from.

That's crazy if she did.

 

[TexanMark]

They outbid Champion

Suckers...Everlast and MacGregor thought they had a shot.

 

[SUbear]

Forget death penalties.


Is this the end of the NCAA?

Opens the question, Is the NCAA a criminal organization?

 

[AZOrange]

He's a reporter unless he was a witness before the grand jury I don't believe there is any prohibition on him disclosing what another person has told him. I'm not even sure that it's settled law that a witness can be legally precluded from disclosing that he appeared and what he knows.

I agree with you here a bit on the latter statement. But rightly or wrongly he's just interjected himself into the middle of this. He will probably wish he hadn't.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Okay, well, I thought I'd weigh in a bit here. First of all, if you have a favorite college basketball team, you should worry. This scandal could hit any program as it goes forward.

How should I describe dirty recruiting? Its like filing out your taxes.

>1% of them fill out all the forms correctly and do not lie or exaggerate anything

>69% stretch the meaning of the law to fit their situation

>29.9999% flat out lie and make stuff up that isn't true.

>Kentucky killed their grandparents, hid them in the basement and are continuing to cash their SS checks.

Teams caught today are in the 29.9999999% category.

We're in the 69% group---but the details of which for any of these programs would be unflattering.

Some other thoughts:

Fran Fraschilla is going to be asked how he knew a month ahead of time.

The entire Louisville hoops program is going to be nuked. AD to ball boy. They will be lucky if they are allowed to play this year. Even their resident apologist Forde is on board.

So the NCAA was left in the dark? - not surprising, but I certainly wouldn't doubt that someone at the NCAA took money from a shoe company to keep one of their teams off probation. The NCAA is corrupt with a capital C.

Miami is going to get hit hard - its their second big scandal.

Jalen Carey is ours...

Thanks Jake was hoping you would chime in with your thoughts. Obviously no mention or word of SU being involved in this scandal to date is extremely relieving. Interested to get your thoughts on what other programs maybe really sweating right now.