OT? Guilty verdict in basketball "pay-for-play" trial
"A jury on Wednesday convicted the three defendants accused of pay-for-play schemes to influence high-profile basketball recruits to attend Kansas, Louisville, and NC State."
October 24th, 2018 at 3:37 PM ^
The end.
October 24th, 2018 at 3:37 PM ^
I'm sure the NCAA is calibrating its Precision Wrist Slapper as we speak.
October 24th, 2018 at 3:39 PM ^
Those teams should all get the death penalty... but they won't.
October 24th, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
Show of hands. Does anybody think the NCAA will do anything with this information? And does anybody think they'll do anything about all the other testimony that would seem to implicate other basketball sacred cows like Duke?
I didnt think so either.
All the more amazing the job Beilein has done given that he not only has to find great players who fit his system - he has to find great players who fit his system that dont want to get paid - even though seemingly every other player around them is.
October 24th, 2018 at 3:50 PM ^
They'll issue some token punishments that alter record books, but not anything in the real world, or provide some minimal extra challenge to the offending teams (e.g. dock a scholarship)
October 24th, 2018 at 3:52 PM ^
IF, the NCAA even bothers to look into it, all three schools will pull a North Carolina and tell them to pound sand. And they will.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:13 PM ^
My comment is always 'why aren't the feds prosecuting the recipients of the $$$ (players and parents) for income tax evasion? Of course, they also launder the money given to them, which is another felony. If a few went to jail, you'd see this clean up pretty quickly. Most players would only be waiting another 1-2 years to cash in on even more money. I don't understand why these people get off the hook....
October 24th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^
Maybe they do report the income on their tax return.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:51 PM ^
As odd is that might seem given our earlier exchange today I believe you are exactly right. There is no federal law prohibiting accepting payment for attending a particular college, that is an internal NCAA stipulation. If the recepients are smart enough to simply declare their gains as income and pay the corresponding taxes the feds will have no issue with them whatsoever.
October 24th, 2018 at 5:36 PM ^
One can declare the income and plead the fifth on the source. Then you haven't committed tax evasion...
(this is not tax advice, seek a non-stephen king character or tax professional if advice is what you seek).
October 25th, 2018 at 2:00 AM ^
Don't most of these payments come in the form of "gifts" from bagmen? Taxes for gifts are the responsibility of the giver, not the recipient.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:48 PM ^
No, they probably won't. The schools were in a sense the victims of the fraud. And to punish them for actions taken against their interests does not seem right under these circumstances (with the exception of Arizona, I think).
The NCAA could build a case for lack of institutional control against Arizona for Sean Miller's role. That Arizona learned of the facts and did not fire him seems like ratification to me. This is many times more corrupt than the scandal that essentially killed Michigan basketball for 12 years.
October 24th, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^
I bet Bill Self is sweating like Rick Pitino in church right now.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
Haha, Pitino never went to church
October 24th, 2018 at 3:59 PM ^
This should only be the beginning. It's probably closer to the end. I don't see much happening to anyone implicated, hope I'm wrong though.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:01 PM ^
So prosecutors just announced to the college basketball world that the NCAA rule book can be considered federal law by saying the universities were defrauded by signing players that knowingly violated NCAA rules. They seriously painted the universities as the victims in this.......and won. People are probably going to jail and they’re the people that helped the players get some cash. This is nuts.
October 24th, 2018 at 11:33 PM ^
This is it exactly. My take on this is probably colored by the fact that I'm a law student considering criminal defense work, but this whole case disgusts me.
The US Attorney's Office is essentially allowing itself to be used as the enforcement arm of the NCAA. They are using a tortured interpretation of the law in order to prop up a corrupt system.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
Put the banners back up...
October 24th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
Topeka Community College is getting the death penalty for this.
October 24th, 2018 at 4:40 PM ^
I get it. Paying players if ethical, but not if you commit fraud to do it. And in any event it will be legal soon.
October 24th, 2018 at 5:19 PM ^
Chattanooga St,Southern Utah and Western Georgia School for the Blind, are about to get some major sanctions .... NCAA is a joke
October 24th, 2018 at 8:55 PM ^
"'If the universities had known about the defendants' secret payments, they never would have issued those scholarships' says Noah Solowiejczyk"
Oh my god, you cannot be serious