[ad_1]
NEW YORK – In the past five years, Brian Bowen Sr. was a former policeman and proud father of basketball in Saginaw, Michigan, perfectly understanding that his talented son was worth a lot of money to many people. He certainly did not hesitate to take advantage of that.
Thursday afternoon, Bowen Sr. was the government's star witness in a basketball fraud trial at a college.
His son, Brian "Tuggs" Bowen II, was considered one of the top 20 to 30 players of the 2017 promotion. He was not ranked among the top five players nor as the star guarantee of the NBA, but it was more than enough to have a de facto status. agent, Christian Dawkins, when he was in his second year at high school.
It was about that time that Dawkins negotiated an agreement for Bowen Sr. to be paid $ 25,000 to play AA's spring and summer basketball with the Michigan Mustangs, sponsored by Adidas. It's $ 25,000 for an AAU balloon season. The money would come from Adidas.
"Every shoe company wants good players in their team," Bowen Sr. told the jury, which is charged with deciding the fate of Dawkins and Adidas executives, James Gatto and Merl Code, on charges of fraud and conspiracy. . All three pleaded not guilty.
The Michigan Mustangs were the starting point. The litany of offers and business that Bowen witnessed came in a fast, realistic style, a look at the way of life in the basic basketball system.
Brian Bowen's father, father of five-star rookie Brian Bowen, appeared at the bar on Thursday. (AP)
Bowen Sr. testified that Dawkins had told him that the University of Arizona would pay $ 50,000 for Tuggs to play for the Wildcats with the money from former assistant coach Joe Pasternack , who is now the head coach of Santa Barbara UC. Tuggs would probably have signed with the Wildcats, except for a blocking of his position on the Arizona roster.
Bowen Sr. testified that Dawkins had told him that the state of Oklahoma would pay $ 150,000 plus $ 8,000 for a car and "an undisclosed amount to buy a house" so that Tuggs could play with the Cowboys with money from assistant coach Lamont Evans, who was one of the coaches charged last year in this case.
Bowen Sr. testified that Dawkins had told him that Texas "would help me find housing" if Tuggs was playing for the Longhorns. His name was that of Mike Morrell, assistant coach of the time, who is now the head coach of the UNC Asheville.
Bowen Sr. stated that Dawkins had told him that Creighton would pay "like" $ 100,000 and give him "a good job, like a lucrative job" if Tuggs was playing for the Bluejays, with the money and the money. help provided through the intermediary of Preston Murphy assistant coach.
Bowen Sr. testified that Dawkins initially told him that Adidas would pay him between $ 60,000 and $ 80,000 to play at the University of Louisville, but that this offer had been raised to $ 100,000 because 39, a player of similar caliber, Billy Preston, had received this sum to go to Kansas. . Earlier, federal prosecutors announced that $ 90,000 would be promised to Preston to play with the Jayhawks. The federal government did not specify who was funding this agreement.
Tuggs Bowen eventually signed with Louisville, although this is partly because Brian Bowen Sr. thought Rick Pitino would be a great coach for his son. The Cardinals played in a "good league". [the ACC]"And there was a place in the starting lineup when Donovan Mitchell turned pro.
"My main concern was what was the best basketball situation for my son," said Bowen Sr.
Well, maybe, but that was not all.
"Plus, money is involved," said Bowen Sr.
Of course.
Bowen Sr. said he and Dawkins, who also grew up in Saginaw and was working at the time as a runner for the NBA agent, Andy Miller, had made an agreement. Dawkins paid regular payments to Bowen Sr., usually about $ 2,000 a month, while serving as an intermediary for Bowen Sr. and processing bids and payments from others. Eventually, when Tuggs reached the NBA, Dawkins would have his own sports agency, represent the player, and provide a financial planner to handle his NBA money.
Bowen Sr. said that he had never spoken directly to payments with a college coach, including Rick Pitino.
"I have not said anything about it," said Sr. Bowen about his meetings with Pitino during a recruitment frenzy at the end of May, when Louisville went off the radar. from Tuggs to his university destination.
Earlier during the trial, financial planner Munish Sood said that in July 2017, just after Tuggs' signing with Louisville, Sood had handed Bowen Sr. a bag containing $ 19,400 as well as a sandwich at a clandestine meeting on the parking lot of an office building in Morristown, New Jersey, as the first installment of the promised Louisville sum.
Tuggs Bowen, however, would never play for the Cardinals.
By the end of September 2017, only a few months after his signature, the FBI would indict 10 men in this scandal, including Dawkins, and the cardinals would ban Tuggs Bowen from exercising. He was eventually transferred to South Carolina but later became a professional without playing. He is currently in the Australian Basketball League, which, when it was evoked, prompted Bowen Sr. to cry uncontrollably from the witness stand and force Judge Lewis Kaplan to suspend the session.
Meanwhile, after the scandal, Pitino was sacked despite the lack of evidence of his knowledge of the deal, funded by Adidas, which sponsors the Louisville program. However, at the trial on Thursday, federal prosecutors said Louisville's former assistant, Kenny Johnson, had paid Bowen Sr. $ 1,300 and that his former assistant, Jordan Fair, had pledged $ 900 to " the recruitment of another student-athlete ".
All along, all around the Bowens was money. Bowen Sr. said Adidas was financing his son's room for the Michigan Mustangs, with some payments being made either in cash or via Western Union from Dawkins. Evidence of wire transfers was presented to the court.
According to Bowen Sr., other payments were also made to Chris Rivers, a senior Adidas baseball manager. Bowen testified that Rivers had taken Bowen in his car at an event organized by the AUA and sponsored by Adidas, where he was recovering four thousand dollars in cash.
Bowen Sr. stated that he had removed Tuggs from the Michigan Mustangs in search of a better situation for AAU basketball and that he had agreed to have him play for the Nike-sponsored Mean Streets group in Chicago. He testified that he had received between $ 5,000 and $ 8,000 for this transaction. He testified that he had refused an offer of $ 18,000 to play for Spiece Indy Heat, based in Indiana, because he thought that Mean Streets would do a better job in developing Tuggs.
After two seasons spent playing ball at Saginaw Arthur Hill High School, Bowen sent Tuggs to La Lumiere School, a preparation facility at The Gate in Indiana. In exchange, Bowen testified that he was receiving $ 2,000 most of the month from his coach Shane Heirman, who is now director of basketball operations at DePaul. Dawkins, in an SMS sent to Bowen that was revealed in court, called Heirman "Sugar Shane".
The government's direct examination of Bowen Sr. should continue when the trial resumes Tuesday morning. Subsequently, the defense lawyers for Gatto, Code and Dawkins can cross-examine him. More information can be revealed.
To note from Thursday, the situation concerns the University of Oregon. On Wednesday, a secret recording of a conversation between Code and Dawkins revealed to both men that Oregon had made "an astronomical offer" to sign Bowen. They did not want him to go there, because as a Nike school, they risked losing control of their potential client and not forcing him to sign with them when he became a professional. Instead, they negotiated the contract to send Tuggs to Louisville to Adidas fortune.
When asked if Dawkins was providing details of an Oregon bid, Bowen Sr. said, "I do not remember that."
With regard to university basketball as a whole, the trial in general and the testimony of Bowen Sr. in particular expose the sport. As has always been the case for everyone who cares about listening, the basketball talent market is rich and robust all over the world.
After all, if the No. 20-30 player in the United States can win $ 25,000 as a sophomore to play an AAU summer ball, just about anything can and is happening.
<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "More from Yahoo Sports:
• The vulgar Jets RB celebration calls for a fine and an endorsement
• "Pitiful" exhibition by adults at the Pee Wee football match
• Jeff Passan: After the embarrassing exit of the playoffs, the Cubs reflect
• NFL suspends Seattle Kendricks indefinitely
"data-reactid =" 63 ">More from Yahoo Sports:
• The vulgar Jets RB celebration calls for a fine and an endorsement
• "Pitiful" exhibition by adults at the Pee Wee football match
• Jeff Passan: After the embarrassing exit of the playoffs, the Cubs reflect
• NFL suspends Seattle Kendricks indefinitely
Source link
