Did Code ever claim he met or spoke with Pitino? I didn’t see that anywhere.
Or is Pitino coming out strongly refuting a statement no one ever made?
ESPN: NCAA hoops scandal will likely spread as trial starts
- Thread starter SmoothRunner32
- Start date
Did Code ever claim he met or spoke with Pitino? I didn’t see that anywhere.
Or is Pitino coming out strongly refuting a statement no one ever made?
Now that I think about it, the timing of when Pitino created a twitter account is also interesting. Said he avoided twitter for years and then just happens to create an account about a week before this trial starts.
You’re not fooling anyone here Rick.
** 300+ pound Zion, there I fixed that..He's found an eatin' place in C.Hill..
And if the FBI loses, that is the worst case scenario for all Universities, coaches and players involved, since Gatto's defense is they were giving money at the request of the coaches.
That’s likely already a problem, at least for Louisville, regardless of the outcome of the case.
The updated indictment states that “one or more coaches at the University of Louisville” were participants in the scheme to defraud the University (see paragraph 39 on page 21).
Yeah I saw that tweet, which is what prompted my question. Code never stated he personally met or spoke with Pitino, at least based on that tweet.
If that’s what Pitino is responding to, then he’s denying an accusation that was never made.
Wtf.
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
Merl Code is a former Adidas adviser. https://www.greenvilleonline.com/st...rl-code-ncaa-scandal-released-bond/708951001/
Ex-Clemson star Merl Code Jr. released on bond after arrest in recruiting scandal
"Code is accused of conspiring with recruits, their families, college coaches, an agent and a financial adviser to funnel money to players in exchange for students to play basketball for certain Adidas-sponsored universities, and to sign with the agent and adviser and Adidas upon turning professional.
The announcement has already led one program, Louisville University in Kentucky, to place head coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on unpaid administrative leave.
The complaint says Code worked for Adidas college and high school basketball programs and “participated in organizing some of the payments” to players and their families from Adidas — called Company 1 in the complaint.
The complaint says Code and Gatto “conspired with coaches for universities sponsored by the company to make payments to high school basketball players and/or their families in exchange for commitments by those players to attend and play for the company-sponsored university and to sign with the company upon turning professional.”
The complaint charged Code, Gatto, Dawkins and Sood with funneling six-figure payments to recruits at the University of Louisville and University of Miami.
In one recorded call about a recruit who committed to Louisville, Code said his "group" had been paid money from Adidas "off the books" but he had complications when he tried to funnel $100,000 to a player's father through Adidas because he didn't have a vendor number for his consulting company, according to the complaint.
In a later call, on July 24, 2017, Code said the payment was being handled by Gatto for Adidas to "an outside organization affiliated with Code" and was putting it on Adidas' books as a "payment to my team, to my organization, so it's on the books, but it's not on the books for what it's actually for."
The complaint says Code and Gatto funneled money from Adidas to the family of a high school player in exchange for the player’s commitment to play basketball at a university sponsored by Adidas, and to retain Dawkins and Sood as representatives and sign with Adidas when he turned professional."
Bowen Sr to be called to the stand as soon as tomorrow
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketballs-dangerous-man-testify-corruption-trial-011022038.html
https://sports.yahoo.com/college-basketballs-dangerous-man-testify-corruption-trial-011022038.html
They may not be listed in the current charges.
But the govt wants to know how someone suddenly got 100k... and they will investigate those questions and more; and then make charges on the ones they can make the best case for
Last edited:
The government already knows all of the details about how someone like Bowen was paid. Everyone involved has admitted to it and they have the relevant records. They know the amounts, how much was in each transfer, where the transfers occurred, and how Gatto concealed the purpose of the payments from Adidas.
Bowen Sr is cooperating and Gatto himself has said essentially “yes, I paid them and here’s how I did it.” In fact, Gatto has not disputed any of the facts thus far. If there was a crime, they would’ve been charged at this point.
Emmert knows that he would be the dirtiest SOB at the hoops trail.
He's afraid of the light.
He’s not there for a reason , this way they can’t ask him any questions and he doesn’t have to lie !!
Quite interesting that Emmert is not there,a bit surprising that he wasn't subpoenaed by one side or the other
He should be roasted in the media,the NCAA's plan for managing this issue is once again trying to distance themselves and make it someone else's problem just as they did with UNC
Come on media call them out and for once tell it like it is for a change.
Last edited:
Honestly, since the NCAA didn’t do a damn thing to UNC, I don’t see how they can punish anyone now.
You said the the FBI should not have been involved... I gave reasons they were initially involved.
It’s not that big off a deal. Geez, you win
"Code, 43, who federal authorities said lives in Greer, faces charges of wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, where the case originates faces up to 80 years in prison if convicted on all charges."
The prosecution needs to call Emmert to the stand and force him to make a statement on how serious he takes these violations and how severe the punishments will be for universities that organize the payment of players. It would bolster the prosecutions argument and force the NCAA's hand to actually punish these schools for their involvement.
RICO used tax laws in order to charge otherwise untouchable crimes. I get that there is not really any crime on the surface of this thing, but somebody somewhere defrauded the IRS, and with the structure and organization involved in the conspiracy, RICO could be applied. RICO was intentionally written very vaguely so that it could applied to a wide range of situations. I was a criminal justice major and put a lot of study in RICO.
Lmao. Emmert is the biggest POS in the history of the NCAA. Makes me sick to even see his pic. Universities and Colleges get nailed and punished all the time for "Lack of Institutional Control" for ticky tack shit at times. Well, all of this corruption, scandals, etc. all happened under Emmerts watch. He is the boss hog and head honcho. Should he not be criticized and punished for all of this happening under his watch? This all should fall back on him at some point. The NCAA has become a disgrace and cesspool. The buck stops with him. Yes, I dislike him very much. When schools get in trouble, you hear all the time from their fanbases, "Well, how could the coach know about every player all the time? It's not the coaches job to babysit, etc. etc.." Yet, Emmert picks and chooses when and who to punish with no consistency. Well Mark, these schools committed fraud and scandals under your watch. Please don't use the excuse, "Well, I can't know what every school is doing all the time." bullshit. F U EMMERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rant over.
I’m trying to read between the lines here, but I get the impression you’re not a fan of Mark Emmert.
Just three days into the trial, here’s what we’ve heard: Six figures for Brian Bowen to attend Louisville. A bidding war up to $150,000 for recruit Nassir Little and competing $20,000 sneaker company payments to Silvio De Sousa. A $40,000 payment to Dennis Smith. Another $90,000 for Billy Preston. A $30,000 kickback to the personal trainer of Markelle Fultz. An “astronomical” bid by Oregon for Bowen. A multi-layered compensation package for Collin Sexton and his family.
First off, if I was pushy about this then I want to apologize and please understand that it wasn’t directed towards you personally.
But here’s why this is such a big deal to me. You’re free to disagree with me and I’m not saying this to try to get you to change your mind. It’s merely so it’s clear where I’m coming from on this.
When I look at this situation, Gatto was making deals that benefited all of the involved parties. The school gets an athlete they covet worth significant revenue, the athlete is compensated for their skills and the agent / shoe company increase the likelihood of signing the athlete as a pro. Among the involved parties, there is no victim.
But for some reason, the FBI has decided that Gatto should go to jail because he won’t play by Mark Emmert’s rules. Look, if he needs to lose his job for violating Adidas policies or can no longer work with college teams, that’s fine. There are consequences to the decisions we make.
But to try to send a husband and a father to prison for this, particularly when the law would say no crime was committed, there’s no justice in that.
"A claim was made in federal court this week that the University of Oregon offered money to a prospective student-athlete in men’s basketball. The UO takes this claim very seriously.
We have reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the case to ascertain whether any evidence exists to substantiate this claim. They have not yet responded to our inquiry. To date, the UO has never been contacted by federal authorities or any other parties involved in this or any other current criminal or civil case related to recruiting in men’s college basketball.
Last year, in response to allegations of fraudulent recruiting practices within college basketball, the UO conducted interviews with members of the men's basketball staff and reviewed player recruiting practices. That review found no evidence that the UO had used monetary offerings to prospective student-athletes or their family members to entice them to attend the UO. After the claim was made in federal court this week, we again spoke with members of the men’s basketball coaching staff and, again, found no evidence that illicit conduct occurred.
Based on all of the information currently available, we feel confident that coach Dana Altman and members of his staff uphold the highest standards of integrity in recruiting. Coach Altman is one of the nation’s most respected men’s basketball coaches, and we are proud of his strong track record of success on and off the court.
We will continue to closely monitor proceedings from the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York."
"A claim was made in federal court this week that the University of Oregon offered money to a prospective student-athlete in men’s basketball. The UO takes this claim very seriously.
We have reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the case to ascertain whether any evidence exists to substantiate this claim. They have not yet responded to our inquiry. To date, the UO has never been contacted by federal authorities or any other parties involved in this or any other current criminal or civil case related to recruiting in men’s college basketball.
Last year, in response to allegations of fraudulent recruiting practices within college basketball, the UO conducted interviews with members of the men's basketball staff and reviewed player recruiting practices. That review found no evidence that the UO had used monetary offerings to prospective student-athletes or their family members to entice them to attend the UO. After the claim was made in federal court this week, we again spoke with members of the men’s basketball coaching staff and, again, found no evidence that illicit conduct occurred.
Based on all of the information currently available, we feel confident that coach Dana Altman and members of his staff uphold the highest standards of integrity in recruiting. Coach Altman is one of the nation’s most respected men’s basketball coaches, and we are proud of his strong track record of success on and off the court.
We will continue to closely monitor proceedings from the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York."
Christian Dawkins is on the FBI videotape shown Wednesday saying Oregon offered ‘an astronomical amount’ for Brian Bowen Jr. He was speaking with Merl Code, among others, and said, ‘Not going to Oregon. Astronomical offer. But we couldn’t control him there .’
Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) · Twitter
Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) · Twitter
