At least 6 men’s hoops programs to face NCAA allegations

The Associated Press - June 14, 2019 12:31 pm

Former Oklahoma State Cowboys and South Carolina Gamecocks assistant basketball coach Lamont Evans received a three-month prison sentence Friday for accepting bribes to push players toward certain managers and financial advisers.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A key NCAA official says six schools are going to be facing allegations of Level I violations as early as next month, the latest fallout in the college basketball corruption scandal.

Stan Wilcox, vice president for regulatory affairs for the NCAA, tells CBS Sports two high-profile programs will be notified in early July, the others at a later date.

Level I violations can include such punishments as scholarship reductions, postseason bans and show-cause orders against coaches.

NCAA officials said in a statement that it’s likely even more schools will be notified of violations.

Wilcox told CBS the new cases will be subject to new NCAA policies approved after recommendations made by a commission led by Condoleezza Rice, a former U.S. secretary of state. Wilcox was in Florida participating as a panelist on NCAA issues at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention.

The FBI announced in September 2017 it had indicted 10 people, including four assistant coaches , for bribery and fraud. Prosecutors said coaches teamed with an executive from an apparel maker and others to trade hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence star athletes’ choices of schools, shoe sponsors, agents, even tailors in a widespread recruiting scandal that tainted two dozen schools.

The cases concluded last week when Lamont Evans, a former assistant basketball coach at Oklahoma State and the University of South Carolina, was sentenced to three months in prison for accepting bribes to link top players with bribe-paying managers and financial advisers.

Former Adidas executive James Gatto, business manager Christian Dawkins and amateur league director Merl Code were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud last October for funneling recruits to Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina State.

Wilcox said the NCAA waited to act, at the request of the federal government, until the trials wrapped up.

 

Latest Stories

Watch Ponca City Softball Here

The Cats are in regional play today. If you can’t make it to the games in...

West and East Middle School and High School Choirs Present: “The Quest-Music of Journeys and Home”

Join West and East Middle Schools and the High School Choirs for an enchanting evening of...

Study To Determine Legality Of License Plate-Reading Cameras After Oklahoma Lawmaker Raises Privacy Concerns

A new study is set to determine the legality of cameras used to read license plates...