OT: FBI College basketball scandal might be bigger than we think.

Submitted by Arb lover on March 25th, 2019 at 2:28 PM

So Avenatti just tweeted out the below and FBI agents swarmed his house shortly thereafter (for quasi-unrelated reasons). Best guess he went to Nike first to see if they were willing to make the story go away, but that Nike is already deep in it, and told the FBI.

Tmrw at 11 am ET, we will be holding a press conference to disclose a major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by @Nike that we have uncovered. This criminal conduct reaches the highest levels of Nike and involves some of the biggest names in college basketball.

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 25, 2019

bluebyyou

March 25th, 2019 at 5:28 PM ^

Maybe Coach K was involved, and maybe not.

When the feds come knocking and make an offer to keep you out of the clink if you talk, most people can't wait to tell what they know. 

Certain programs, Duke and Kentucky to name two, always have more talent than they know what to do with. Is that due to brand recognition or something more?  Maybe we will find out.

ijohnb

March 25th, 2019 at 2:36 PM ^

I am beginning to tire of bad things, and discussions about bad people and the bad things they do.

ijohnb

March 25th, 2019 at 3:13 PM ^

I don't know.  It is hard to trace where I think our collective societal rot stems from.  There are a couple of "easy" answers to go with but I think those things/people are more symptoms than they are causes.  I do know that we are in a pretty sad state of affairs right now, and that very little remains that I feel like I can tell my kids to believe in.

Beilein.  There is still Beilein. 

Njia

March 26th, 2019 at 9:15 AM ^

I heard a profound quote from Mr. Rogers (YTMR) in a documentary film about him not long ago. He said that all good and evil in the world could be explained by love ... or the lack of it. 

That should also give you something to tell your kids to believe in, and cling to.

MidwestIsBest

March 26th, 2019 at 9:44 AM ^

Exactly. Always good to remind ourselves that the media reports, to a degree, on the anomalies. If the world was completely and totally rampant with corruption—like it infested the vast majority of transactions and individuals—and there was Mad Max style lawlessness on the streets, then someone volunteering at the homeless shelter likely would be on the news.

huntmich

March 25th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^

A) paying the players won't involve more money in college athletics. It will come from existing revenue.

B) of course people will still cheat. But players will be compensated for their skills and the massive effort they expend to bring untold amounts of money to their school.

J.

March 25th, 2019 at 10:08 PM ^

C) Title IX is short -- basically one paragraph -- and doesn't mention athletics or compensation once.  While subsequent ruling have expanded the scope, at its core it's about discrimination, not equality.

I could make a pretty good case that if a college were to offer a share of the gate receipts to the players involved in that sport, they would be Title IX compliant provided that they did that for all sports.  They might need to make the ticket prices the same for men's and women's sports, or at least show that they'd done market studies and tried to maximize revenue.  The same is true for TV money.

A difference in attendance -- or ticket prices -- between men's and women's sports is not prima facie evidence of discrimination.

 

BornInA2

March 25th, 2019 at 6:13 PM ^

" A) paying the players won't involve more money in college athletics. It will come from existing revenue. "

LOL. So who do you think is going to take a pay cut to fund player salaries? Hint: No one will.

" B) of course people will still cheat. But players will be compensated for their skills and the massive effort they expend to bring untold amounts of money to their school. "

I'm sorry, but please get back to me when you're paying full-boat for your offspring to attend a "public" university, which costs something between $80,000 and $400,000 over four years, if they live like normal college students. Then go have a look at the lifestyle and entirely free education (plus stipend) afforded scholarship athletes. Then come back and tell me they aren't already compensated. Hint: They are, handsomely.

KO Stradivarius

March 25th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^

It seems like the FBI can't have this douchebag blabbing about it and grandstanding when an investigation is on-going.  They will arrest him and prevent it from happening.

redjugador24

March 25th, 2019 at 3:01 PM ^

Who thinks it is "small", or thinks they know the limit of it's scope?  In my circle everyone seems to universally believe it involves all major shoe companies, most major programs, and that corruption is the rule, not the exception.  

Also, as fun as it may be to watch the NCAA burn, this dude has ZERO credibility. This is from the federal filing and is a quote from Avenatti during a recorded meeting between him and Nike attorneys. 

Avenatti said if he made the allegations public -- conduct that allegedly involved a Nike-client amateur basketball team -- "I am going to receive calls from all over the country from parents and coaches and friends and all kinds of people -- this is always what happens -- and they are all going to say I've got an email or a text message or -- now, 90% of that is going to be bullshit because it's always bullshit 90% of the time, always, whether it's R. Kelly or Trump, the list goes on and on -- but 10% of it is actually going to be true, and then what's going to happen is that this is going to snowball . . . and every time we got more information, that's going to be the Washington Post, the New York Times, ESPN, a press conference, and the company will die -- not die, but they are going to incur cut after cut after cut after cut, and that's what's going to happen as soon as this thing becomes public."

"I'll go take ten billion dollars off your client's market cap," Avenatti allegedly told attorneys for Nike, per the complaint. "I'm not fucking around."

https://www.morningstar.com/news/market-watch/TDJNMW_20190325409/update-nike-shares-bruised-after-avenatti-arrest-on-extortion-charges.html

Go ahead and take from that what you will, but please don't assume the scandal is "bigger than we assume" because of this asshat.