At noon, there will be a press conference hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York to announce charges of fraud and corruption surrounding college basketball. The federal criminal charges have been brought against ten people, including four college basketball coaches, managers, financial advisors and representatives of adidas. The press conference will be livestreamed on Facebook.
Individuals named include Auburn’s Chuck Person, Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, agent Rishan Michel and adidas head of sports marketing Jim Gatto.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that Person agreed to take $50,000 in exchange for providing Michel with a player. It also claims that Gatto and others paid high school players to attend schools sponsored by adidas and then sign with adidas upon turning pro.
Since announcing the press conference, adidas has provided a statement that, “Today, we became aware that federal investigators arrested an adidas employee. We are learning more about the situation. We’re unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more.”
