Adidas reportedly distributed money to the families of DeAndre Ayton and Dennis Smith Jr.



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Photo: Christian Petersen (Getty)

The more you read about the online fraud case involving three Adidas representatives, the more it becomes apparent that the world of basketball recruitment is overflowing with money, so the only reason for which a person inside of it could resist the idea of ​​officially paying university athletes is: Protect a large amount of money that lies under the table and that goes to a whole host of coaches, advisers, consultants and merchants of influence.

Today's great development comes from the testimony of Adidas' former "consultant", TJ Gassnola, who is called to testify in the government, said he paid money to the families of DeAndre Ayton, the rookie the Suns, and second-year goaltender Dennis Smith Jr., and several other outstanding university players. Although the dollar amount of these transactions has not been discussed yet, Gassnola would have corroborated the testimony of Brian Bowen Sr. last week, stating that Adidas had forwarded $ 25,000 in exchange for the affiliation from his son to the AAU programs supported by Adidas and the Louisville commitment.

Gassnola testified that he had agreed to pay $ 25,000 to the family of Brian Bowen Jr. for their son to play in the Michigan Mustangs' baseball program, sponsored by Adidas. Dawkins first informed Gassnola that the family was interested in leaving his current program and playing another one, but that the family "needed $ 25,000 to make the move."

"I said [Dawkins] I would do it and I would do it, "Gassnola told the jury.

Gassnola said he sent $ 7,000 cash in a magazine to the Bowen family, while Adidas' executive, Chris Rivers, "occupied the rest."

The families of two Kansas recruits, Billy Preston and Silvio De Sousa, reportedly received $ 90,000 and $ 20,000, respectively, from Adidas. Assistant coaches in half a dozen major basketball programs, executives at one of the world's largest clothing companies, a derisory list of AAU tours and programs, and a growing rookie list order have now been named in testimonials. The forced amateurism of the NCAA, it is a farce of exploitation of work cynically grafted on the higher education, pushes all these businesses in the hiding, so that sordid and unscrupulous non-participants can enrich themselves. The lawsuit highlights some of this, but would it not be simpler if, instead of forcing the market to hide, and then looking for it in the mud, all the money that is already changing hands was just, you know, paid to the players who run the whole business?

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