By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
The FBI led one of the largest investigations into corruption in college basketball, arresting four NCAA basketball coaches, a top Adidas executive and five others.
The arrests are part of a two-year investigation into bribery schemes in which star athletes are recruited and then pointed to particular schools, financial advisers, agents and shoe sponsors, the New York Post reports.
And the probe is far from over.
“We have your playbook,” New York FBI Assistant Director in Charge William Sweeney said during a Manhattan news conference. “Our investigation is ongoing, and we are conducting additional interviews as we speak.”
The investigation involved undercover FBI agents who exposed what acting Manhattan U.S. attorney Joon Kim called the “dark underbelly of college basketball.”
“The picture of college basketball painted by the charges is not a pretty one,” said Kim, adding that the defendants were “circling blue-chip prospects like coyotes” and exploited them to enrich themselves.
