Orlando Early, a former N.C. State assistant basketball coach, accepted tens of thousands of dollars and helped funnel it to the family of Dennis Smith Jr. to secure the basketball player’s commitment to the Wolfpack, Thomas “T.J.” Gassnola, a former Adidas America consultant, testified in federal court in New York on Thursday.
“I gave Orlando Early $40,000 to give to the family of Dennis Smith,” Gassnola said.
Gassnola has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and agreed to testify for the federal government in its fraud case against James Gatto and Merl Code, two former Adidas employees, and Christian Dawkins, an agent runner. Gassnola told the court he flew to North Carolina in 2015 and delivered the cash to Early at the coach’s request.
“In the fall of 2015,” Gassnola testified, “Orlando Early reached out to me that there was some issues surrounding Dennis. There was a lot of minutiae around him. He was having some issues keeping the situation together.”
The Smith family, Gassnola said, was complaining to Early that it needed money.
“I offered to bring him $40,000 to calm the situation,” Gassnola said. “Just make it easier, keep people happy.”
The money, Gassnola testified, was to be passed from Early to Shawn Farmer, Dennis Smith Jr.’s personal trainer, and on to Dennis Smith Sr., the player’s father. Gassnola described Farmer in court as the “go-between” for Adidas and the Smith family.
Gassnola said he asked Gatto, a former Adidas executive, for the cash and then traveled to North Carolina on Nov. 1, 2015, to make the payment.
A receipt for his plane ticket for travel from Hartford, Conn., to Raleigh that day was entered into evidence.
Gassnola ran the New England Playaz summer-league basketball team, which was sponsored by Adidas. He said he withdrew the money from the team’s account and was subsequently reimbursed by Gatto.
Gassnola was asked in court what the withdrawal from the Playaz account was for.
“It was a payment to Dennis Smith’s family,” Gassnola said.
Gassnola said he met Early at his house in Raleigh to give him “cash in an envelope.” The transaction happened at Early’s house because “I wanted to conceal it from N.C. State,” Gassnola testified.
Gassnola also testified that he did not discuss the payment with anyone else at N.C. State, including compliance officials.
“Coaches would have been fired and Dennis would have been deemed ineligible,” Gassnola testified.
The $40,000 payment was the second one Gassnola had made to Smith, he said. The first, he testified, was made when Smith was a junior at Trinity Christian School in Fayetteville. It’s unclear how much the first payment was for.
Smith played one season at N.C. State, in 2016-17, before the Dallas Mavericks drafted him in the first round of the NBA Draft. Despite Adidas’ efforts to secure him, he signed an endorsement deal with rival shoe company Under Armor, which left Gatto disappointed.
“I felt we had done nothing but good for Dennis Smith and his family over time. Jimmy went beyond the call to sign that kid,” read a text from Gassnola that was shown in court.
N.C State compliance director Carrie Doyle testified Tuesday and Wednesday that she had no knowledge of the payments made to the Smith family, which are a violation of NCAA rules. She said had the school known of them, Smith would not have been offered a scholarship.
Smith signed his national letter of intent with N.C. State on Nov. 11, 2015. The following month, on Dec. 17, 2015, he signed the required documents to certify his eligibility that allowed him to receive funds under his scholarship agreement with the school.
According to documents entered into evidence, one of the documents stated, “You have reported to the director of athletics or his or her designee of your institution any violations of NCAA regulations involving you and your institution.
“You affirm that you understand that if you sign this statement falsely or erroneously, you violate NCAA legislation on ethical conduct and you will further jeopardize your eligibility.”
Doyle testified that, in the eyes of the NCAA, it didn’t matter whether Smith Jr. knew or didn’t know about the payments to his family when he signed the document attesting to his amateur status.
Gassnola testified on Wednesday that he made payments to the families of five players, including Smith, former Kansas player Billy Preston, current Kansas player Silvio De Sousa, former Louisville player Brian Bowen Jr. and former Arizona player DeAndre Ayton.
