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Former Adidas consultant, TJ Gassnola, said Wednesday in federal court that he had paid the family of former Arizona Wildcats star, Deandre Ayton, as well as several other players , on behalf of the shoe company.
TJ Gassnola said in federal court that he had made payments to the families of 5 players on behalf of Adidas:
Deandre Ayton
Brian Bowen
Silvio De Sousa
Dennis Smith Jr.
Billy Preston– Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 10, 2018
Two of the other four players mentioned, Billy Preston and Brian Bowen, were also recruited by Arizona.
The testimony does not imply Arizona, a school affiliated with Nike, and Gassnola said she was supposed to be a secret operation, suggesting that coaches and schools may not have known about it.
However, Wednesday marked the first time that Ayton was mentioned in the trial, the first of three that had been scheduled as a result of charges brought as part of the federal college basketball investigation. While it was proven that Ayton had accepted an added bonus as a rookie, this could have a retroactive impact on his eligibility last season.
ESPN announced in February that coach Sean Miller had discussed a pay-for-play ploy involving Ayton, who was vehemently denied after spending a game and four more days with the Wildcats.
Paul Kelly, a lawyer hired by UA to conduct an external investigation, issued a statement after the ESPN report that Ayton had "consistently and credibly" claimed that neither he nor any member of his family had received any information. 39; money or an additional benefit that had influenced his decision attending Arizona.
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