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NEW YORK – Former Adidas consultant, TJ Gassnola said Monday in federal court that he did not believe that the Kansas Jayhawks' coach, Bill Self, and assistant coach, Kurtis Townsend, knew that he poured money from the sports shoe company to parents or guardians of prestigious rookies to make sure they signed with the Jayhawks. .
Text messages between Gassnola, Self and Townsend presented by defense lawyers on Monday indicated that Kansas coaches were at least aware of Gassnola's participation in the Jayhawks' recruitment of current player Silvio De Sousa, a native of Florida. 39; Angola.
The testimony and revelation of the SMS were heard during the federal criminal trial involving James Gatto, Adidas officer, Merl Code, Adidas consultant, and Christian Dawkins, a runner of the former agent of the NBA, Andy Miller. The two men are accused of wire fraud and conspiracy to send money from Adidas to the rookie families in Kansas, Louisville, Miami and NC State.
The government is expected to end its case as early as Tuesday, and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the US District Court told the jury Monday morning that he could begin his deliberations as early as Thursday.
Gassnola, a former AAU director from Springfield, Mass., Said last week that he had paid $ 90,000 to the mother of former Kansas player, Billy Preston, and that he had also agreed to pay $ 20,000 to De Sousa's guardian, Fenny Falmagne, to help him "get out of under". a pay-to-play system to send De Sousa to Maryland.
"I do not remember words, but Fenny told me that he was under the umbrella of the [Maryland] reminder, "Gassnola said Monday.
On August 9, 2017, Townsend texted Gassnola and wrote, "Coach Self just spoke to Fenny, let me know what happened next."
A few hours later, Gassnola wrote: "The Hall of Fame When you have 5 minutes and your [sic] call me alone. "
Later that night, after Self did not answer, Gassnola again texted him: "I talked to Fenny."
"We are good," asked himself by SMS.
"Always," replied Gassnola. "C & # 39; [sic] was a light job. Ball is in his camp now. "
According to cell phone records presented during Monday's testimony, Gassnola and Self had a five-minute phone call, six seconds later at night. Gassnola testified that he did not remember what the men had talked about. His phone was not monitored via FBI phone tapping at the time.
On August 26, 2017, Townsend sent Gassnola a text message that he had received from Falmagne: "The coach has telephoned Angola, we are ready to leave, we will commit tomorrow."
De Sousa, who attended the IMG Academy, enlisted in Kansas four days later.
On September 19, 2017, three days before Kansas announced that he had agreed to a $ 191 million contract extension with Adidas for 12 years, Gassnola texted Self and thanked him for To have helped to conclude the sponsorship contract.
Auto replied, "I'm happy with Adidas, I just have to have some real guys."
Gassnola replied, "In my mind, it's KU, bill me. [expletive] wrong. That's what suits Adidas basketball. And I know that I'm right. The more you win, have lottery photos [sic] and you happy. That's how it should work in my mind. "
Auto replied, "That's how you work at UNC and Duke." Gassnola also responded to Kentucky.
"I promise you that I have that," wrote Gassnola. "I never let you down, except Dyondre lol, we'll get there."
When Michael Schacter, Gatto's defense attorney, asked Gassnola if "Dyondre" was a reference to the former Arizona player, Deandre Ayton, Gassnola replied, "If" .
De Sousa joined the Jayhawks at the end of December. He averaged 8.8 minutes in 20 games. He scored seven points and seven rebounds in 10 minutes in the national defeat against Villanova in the semifinals.
Gassnola said Falmagne, a native of Angola and also legal guardian for Maryland forward Bruno Fernando, only wanted Adidas equipment for the Angolan national team. He said that he shared this request with Self and Townsend but did not tell them about the planned payment of $ 20,000.
Gassnola testified that he had never seen a sales record or Adidas uniform designs for the Angolan national team. He was also unaware that Nike is sponsoring this specific national team.
Asked about the federal lawsuit at Kansas Media Day last week in Kansas, he said, "I have no answer, I can not talk about it, I do not want to be opaque at all. I just feel like … our position is always the same, we'll make comments when the time is right, the right time is when it will be done, and it certainly will be, I will not comment Today, this has been said because we will of course know what it will mean in the next two weeks. "
The government has also introduced text messages between Preston and his mother, Nicole Player, in which she appears to be urging her son to deny knowing of the purchase of a car that he destroyed on the Kansas campus shortly afterwards. register for it in 2017
On November 13, 2017, Preston texted his mother to say, "The NCAA guy just came over to my house. He talked about my car and how it was purchased. [Florida] and all that."
She said, "Tell him you do not know where he was bought … your mother and mother managed that."
"You do not know," she continued. "[I don’t care] what they tell you … YOU DO NOT KNOW. "
After Preston replied: "You got it", she wrote: "If they ask you about a person, say," I do not know … I should see their face. "
Preston did not play in a game for the Jayhawks last season and became professional because of eligibility issues. He was not selected in the June NBA draft and signed a two-way contract with the The Cleveland Cavaliers.
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