Basketball corruption trial drags in names of Markelle Fultz, Kyle Kuzma

[JonLP24]

NEW YORK -- A former financial adviser, who pleaded guilty to conspiring with three men to facilitate money from Adidas to the families of high-profile recruits and also bribing college basketball coaches, told a jury on Wednesday that he worked with another sports agent to provide money to people associated with NBA players Kyle Kuzma and Markelle Fultz while they were still in college.

Munish Sood, of Princeton, New Jersey, testified that he gave a $30,000 loan to someone connected to Fultz and paid an undisclosed amount to one of Kuzma's associates while they were still playing at the University of Washington and the University of Utah, respectively. Sood said he made the payments at the request of NBA agent Stephen Pina of ASM Sports.

Fultz, from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, played one season for the Huskies and was the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Kuzma, from Flint, Michigan, played three seasons for the Utes and was a first-round choice of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2017.

In August, Sood pleaded guilty to felony conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services fraud and travel act offenses, payments of bribes to an agent of a federally funded organization and wire fraud conspiracy. He faces up to 35 years in prison.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/24886066/basketball-corruption-trial-drags-names-markelle-fultz-kyle-kuzma

[Wellstone ruled]

1. Hmmmm,somone screwed up and forgot to

deliver the brown bag fun of cash. Don't you just hate that.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. My Problem With This

Guys now getting paid millions are being implicated for taking money someone offered them when everyone involved, except the players, get rich.

I'm not sure how the corruption needs to specify the players. If they didn't throw games for the money, and someone was brazen enough to ignore the rules and throw cash around, why does the public need to know which players? They are not the people being prosecuted.

[JonLP24]

3. Brian Bowen Sr.: Colleges offered cash, improper benefits for son to attend

Last edited Thu Oct 4, 2018, 08:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Mark SchlabachJeff Borzello
NEW YORK -- Brian Bowen Sr., who is accused of agreeing to a pay-for-play scheme to receive $100,000 from Adidas to send his son to the University of Louisville, broke down during his testimony on Thursday in a federal criminal trial involving bribes and other corruption in college basketball.

Within the first 10 minutes of Bowen's testimony, assistant U.S. attorney Edward Diskant asked him about his son, Brian Bowen II, who is also known affectionately as "Tugs."

"Is Tugs presently in college?" Diskant asked.

"Uh, no, he's not," Bowen Sr. answered.

"Why isn't he in college?" Diskant asked.

At that point, Bowen Sr. was overcome with emotion and started crying while sitting on the witness stand. He cried for a few minutes and breathed heavily into the microphone until Diskant asked U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan for a break. As jurors left the courtroom, Bowen Sr. turned from them and wiped his face with a tissue.

Brian Bowen II is currently playing professionally in Australia.

Shortly after Bowen Sr. returned to the stand about 20 minutes later, it wasn't long before he'd accused a handful of colleges, including Arizona, Creighton, Oklahoma State and Texas, of offering him tens of thousands of dollars in cash and other improper benefits for his son to play basketball at those schools.
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/24895503/brian-bowen-sr-accuses-colleges-offering-cash-improper-benefits-son-attend