Wow: James Gatto, head of global sports marketing for adidas, & 4 collegeball coaches arrested for bribery/fraud

Mr. Obvious wrote:

As long as the market exists for the labor for these young men, and the demand for their services is above the proscribed, limited scholarship allowed, there will continue to be a black market for their services.

Yup. No different than alcohol during prohibition or the war on drugs in the face of America's insatiable appetite for getting high.

LetsRun.com wrote:

Just merged the two threads into one. Didn't realize someone else had started one that was bigger.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. This practice has gone on for years ,all the major programs are guilty in one way or another. This is not exclusive to basketball, football is just as bad if not worse. It has stayed a hidden but known secret for insiders for years.

If the shoe company reps and athlete agents "spill the beans"to save themselves you could see a major collapse for many of the big college athletic programs hierarchy.

Professionalizing collegiate sports will end this madness, making money transparent and above the table.

1RunnerBoy wrote:

NCAA Football is next; there's a reason schools like ND and Wisconsin drop one brand for another and it's not product quality either. Under Armour, Nike, they'll all fall.

The folks in Ann Arbor would shit themselves if their beloved maize and blue were involved in this scandal type with Nike at the helm.

I think it is much less of an issue in football mainly because they have to wait at least 3 years to get a pay off.

Universities make shoe and apparel deals based on how much the company is will to give.

runn wrote:

Hum dinger wrote:

I'm thinking highly unlikely given how low in the food chain track and cross country are, but could the shoe companies try to pull this stunt as well in this sport? Isn't the true reason that Nike sponsors NXN and the Nike Elite camp, New Balance sponsors the New Balance nationals, etc., is to gain influence with kids and coaches, and oh by the way, help steer those high school studs to college teams they sponsor?

Just asking...no dog in this fight.

It is marketing- but I coached a team that loved Nike because of the Nike Regionals. Only one kid made nationals and got free stuff.

The rest were "sold" by the massive PR at the Regional Meet (NY/NE) and actually appreciated what Nike did for them by hosting the meet.

I suspect they sponsor the events in order to sell shoes and apparel so yes it is marketing. Plus I think in the case of Nike and running there is a genuine interest in the sport.

Black hole get deeper wrote:

LetsRun.com wrote:

Just merged the two threads into one. Didn't realize someone else had started one that was bigger.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. This practice has gone on for years ,all the major programs are guilty in one way or another. This is not exclusive to basketball, football is just as bad if not worse. It has stayed a hidden but known secret for insiders for years.

If the shoe company reps and athlete agents "spill the beans"to save themselves you could see a major collapse for many of the big college athletic programs hierarchy.

Professionalizing collegiate sports will end this madness, making money transparent and above the table.

I do not think football is anywhere on the scale of basketball. The football stuff is small potatoes and probably far less organized. Yes, I am sure that some players get money (Albert Means showed that as does the Ole Miss investigation), but I also think it is far more direct and not aimed at getting these kids to sign with a specific agent or financial planners who are shady.

The people who are saying they are surprised merely mean they are surprised the FBI got involved not that it was going on. Mark Fox at UGA was not surprised which probably means he was not involved.

Love Me Some Pints wrote:

Mr. Obvious wrote:

several threads (with lots more information) already started on this.

Yeah, but Rojo didn't start them. So what's most likely is he'll merge them together, retitle it however he fancies and make it look like he's started yet another super hot! thread.

Good call

[quote]racket wrote:

Nike possibly involved as well

I was a former NCAA Compliance Coordinator. My experience was whatever comes out in public is what will stick. The entire story is likely far worse.

Jurich is apparently still at Louisville for now.

I'd love for this to be a watershed moment that totally changes big time college football and basketball, but I doubt it.

There's too much money to be made by having free labor and huge TV contracts.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/basketball/louisville/2017/09/27/university-louisville-athletic-director-tom-jurich-daughter-adidas-brand-manager/707521001/

Jurich is apparently still at Louisville for now.

NOPE. Not anymore. Both Pitino and Jurich GONE.

Back in MY Day wrote:

If this is true about the University of Louisville basketball program, the NCAA should give them the death penalty. That program is absolutely out of control. Between the head coach, the assistants, the "academic advisors" no one takes responsibility and appears to have any idea what the others are doing.

Shut it down.

and yet UNC has systemic academic cheating and course manipulation and the NCAA says, 'nothing to see here'. The NCAA has lost any and all semblance of control or oversight. Too many foxes in the hen house so to speak. It will only be the little man who is crucified and the little programs who will be made the example.

joho wrote:

NOPE. Not anymore. Both Pitino and Jurich GONE.

Yeah, the reporting has been kind of all over the place on this, but this is what I am seeing now. Jurich is on paid leave and Pitino is on unpaid leave, but essentially these are just administrative details. Both gone.

makeaclass wrote:

and yet UNC has systemic academic cheating and course manipulation and the NCAA says, 'nothing to see here'. The NCAA has lost any and all semblance of control or oversight. Too many foxes in the hen house so to speak. It will only be the little man who is crucified and the little programs who will be made the example.

Trust me, nobody in college BB is worried about the NCAA today...

none of these guys want to go to federal-pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

There is improper conduct in football, to be sure, but the economics of those 15 or so who can be a one and done (and unfortunately, another 100 or so who think they can be a one and done but can't) make bribery more enticing in basketball than in football because of the prospect of a relatively immediate economic return. Football is a less certain investment, especially with the injury factor added in.

I had to chuckle at the earlie comment about the fact that only 4 assistant black coaches have been charged. This is by design by the DOJ, and it has nothing to do with their race. Sure, the DOJ will take these guys as prosecutorial trophies is that is all they have, but you can bet they will turn up the heat on these guys to bring head coaches and other luminaries under investigation. This is the way the Feds work, and it no different than a drug conspiracy investigation. They will move up the ladder, cutting deals as they do so. This case gives the FBI and DOJ great press, because, after all, who can stand in the way of limiting corruption in college sports. This won't go away any time soon, and schools like Louisville today made a bet by cleaning house first, they can escape the public eye in the long run.

By the way, I went to Duke, and am not of the mind that Duke is incapable of being involved in something like this. They compete for one and done's, and there are lots of incentives to misbehave, no matter how much gold plated pr is attached to a school.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

joho wrote:

NOPE. Not anymore. Both Pitino and Jurich GONE.

Yeah, the reporting has been kind of all over the place on this, but this is what I am seeing now. Jurich is on paid leave and Pitino is on unpaid leave, but essentially these are just administrative details. Both gone.

Absolutely (wasn't meaning to call you out).

I live in the area and it has been all over the news since both Jurich and Pitino met with the interim school president.

This is a HUGE blow to UofL basketball (and all sports really). Going to be an interesting next month in college sports.

I agree with you completely. A FBI/Federal investigation is a different level. My point is---> no athletics department in the power 5's has been worried about anything, as it pertains to the NCAA, for several years. If you get investigated as a program or department, the AD typically has the connections who help ensure the investigative team is loaded to achieve the desired result. Follow up the investigation with some smooth writing in a press release, reviewed by the NCAA in advance, ensures everyone is on the same page using the same language. The department has to do a bunch of NCAA paperwork explaining how it will never happen again, yadda, yadda, yadda. Everyone moves on with business as usual. The end result is the people involved learn how to cheat better so they do not get caught, which is ok with the NCAA because they have deniability (i.e.- UNC and Penn State). This could be a much bigger story because it’s a federal investigation, however the NCAA can and will use the deniability 'play'. One thing for sure, somewhere within this case there is a whistleblower/

This has been going on for so long in college basketball, it's almost a joke. They made a movie about it starring Shaq. Remember Blue Chips?

economics again wrote:

By the way, I went to Duke, and am not of the mind that Duke is incapable of being involved in something like this. They compete for one and done's, and there are lots of incentives to misbehave, no matter how much gold plated pr is attached to a school.

It's hard for me to believe that the same issues won't exist at the likes of Kentucky and Duke and if nothing comes of this beyond what we've heard, I'll believe the Feds just weren't interested in doing so. If the Feds push forward, someone will open up about the other major programs as well and it will be pretty ugly.