Brian Bowen court filings complicate U of L's infractions case with NCAA
Court filings in Brian Bowen's lawsuit against Adidas could complicate the University of Louisville's case with NCAA
www.courier-journal.com
If anyone can refute anything that Sully has said here. Please do. Our Director of Basketball Operations was literally shredding documents. Good Lord, if this is true we are ****ed.
" The University of Louisville’s position is that nobody knew.
The school insists the bribery scheme preceding former basketball recruit Brian Bowen’s enrollment was all Adidas’ doing and should not be held against the school that stood to benefit from his five-star talents.
But depositions and documents filed in Bowen’s lawsuit against the shoe company could undermine that argument in U of L’s infractions case with the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process.
At best, it now seems naïve.
If you don't remember, Bowen II, the McDonald’s All-American who was the highest-profile prospect in Rick Pitino’s final recruiting class at Louisville, was prevented from playing college basketball amid allegations arising from an FBI probe that his signing was induced by a promise of $100,000, in violation of NCAA rules.
Bowen's father, Brian Bowen Sr., admitted to taking bribes but maintained his son did not know about the scheme.
In November 2018, Bowen II sued Adidas and six associates: Adidas employees James Gatto and Chris Rivers, consultants T.J. Gassnolla and Merl Code, aspiring agent Christian Dawkins and financial adviser Munish Sood.
Adidas responded in a motion filed on Feb. 6, 2019, in the U.S. District Court of South Carolina, arguing the company was not responsible for the actions of the other defendants and writing, "His father’s conduct while acting on his behalf puts Bowen at equal fault with the defendants."
Aspiring agent Christian Dawkins and U of L assistant coach Kenny Johnson exchanged 23 text messages on May 30, 2017, regarding Bowen’s recruitment, and both men felt the need to contact Adidas that same day on that same subject.
In one three-minute span, Dawkins told Johnson he needed to talk to Adidas when he was away from the Bowen family “and we should be good,” and Johnson then texted Adidas’ Chris Rivers with an update on Bowen’s recruiting trip.
More: Louisville basketball's fate rests with independent panel after NCAA bows out
“We had a great visit with Brian Bowen,” Johnson said. “Couldn’t have went better. Hope to get it done asap.”
Bowen’s signing was announced three days later.
Viewed in a vacuum, the text messages prove only that Adidas’ director of youth basketball was in the loop in the last days before Bowen made his college choice. There was, to be sure, no mention of money.
Yet given Adidas’ free-spending pursuit of U.S. market share, its strategic emphasis on young basketball talent and its ambivalence about auditing expenses, the corporate coffers had become an invaluable recruiting resource for affiliated schools.
Though initial reports about the Bowen court filings focused on the continuing dispute over his father’s claim that Johnson had given him an improper payment of $1,300, the crux of U of L’s case involves whether it should be held responsible for infractions Adidas’ employees caused as “representatives of the university’s athletic interests.”
While Johnson has “emphatically” denied making any payments to Brian Bowen Sr., he was evasive during his April 14 deposition in Bowen II’s case against Adidas.
For subscribers: Ex-Louisville coaches Kenny Johnson, Jordan Fair detail their stance in response to NCAA
Johnson invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination 47 times while being questioned by Bowen’s attorney, Mullins McLeod, often in response to seemingly innocuous questions.
For instance:
Question: “Did Bowen Sr. refer to you sometimes in text messages as Ken?”
Answer: “Upon advice of counsel, I’m exercising my Fifth Amendment privilege.”
Since only part of Johnson’s deposition is included in the court filings, and at least 122 pages of the transcript were excluded, the total number of times he pled the Fifth is unclear. So, too, are the reasons behind his reticence.
Still, while U of L’s lawyers have asserted no one at the university had knowledge of the promised $100,000 payoff for Bowen’s commitment, they have conceded former assistant coach Jordan Fair was in the Las Vegas hotel room when Dawkins and Brad
Augustine discussed the scheme in front of an undercover agent using the name Jeff DeAngelo and cooperating witness Martin Blazer.
And Johnson’s cellphone records show a May 27, 2017, text to Mike Bowden, U of L’s director of basketball operations, that is most easily read as recognition something sketchy was taking place in Bowen’s recruitment.
“Remove Christian Dawkins from all records on this visit,” Johnson told Bowden. “No paperwork.”
“OK,” Bowden replied. “Never heard the name before.”
Absent clarifying context, that exchange raises more questions than it answers. Worth remembering, though, is the NCAA is not bound by the same standards of evidence as a court of law.
According to NCAA bylaw 19.9.8.3, “The hearing panel shall base its decision on information presented to it that it determines to be credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs.”
Guilt, then, need not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The smell test can suffice. And something surely stinks here.
More: Justice delayed is justice NCAA-style: Wheels turning slowly in solving DI infractions
“The goal is to have (Bowen) back by Thursday,” Dawkins texted Johnson on May 30, 2017. “But going to let him take the night so he thinks he came to this decision by himself.”
An Adidas email message string started by Rivers shows the shoe company had targeted Bowen as early as 2015 as one of a handful of players “we should make a hard push to get (assuming it will take some creative persuasion to get it done).”
That message was shared with a group of Adidas sports marketing staff informally known as “Black Ops.”
“A black operation is an operation that’s dark, underground and you don’t want anybody to know about it,” former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola testified during his 2018 trial.
U of L’s position is that nobody knew. We'll see how far that gets them.
Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714
https://sajgtracker.com/ba8698c4-aa...dG_agrQ50Jyigi33sXqR4Z7J-PiCBxksoiNCJ7byIj5wL
https://www.courier-journal.com/sto...m_content=RightRailArticleThumbnails-Redesign
