Louisville administrators “knew or should have known that Adidas was its booster,” and thus the Cardinals are responsible for NCAA recruiting violations committed by an Adidas employee and consultant when they offered $100,000 to former player Brian Bowen II’s father for his son to sign with the university in 2017.
That is the argument laid out by NCAA enforcement staff in a 54-page reply to Louisville’s response to an NCAA notice of allegations, in which the Cardinals are charged with one Level I violation, the most serious, and three Level II allegations related to the recruitment of Bowen II and other prospects under former coach Rick Pitino.
Louisville released the NCAA’s reply on Monday. The case will be handled by either the NCAA Committee on Infractions or the Independent Accountability Resolution Process and probably won’t be adjudicated until some time next year.
In its reply, NCAA enforcement staff wrote that it is “unaware of any factual information that warrants a lower penalty range for the institution.”
“The institution disputes nearly all allegations detailed in this case and has not promptly acknowledged or accepted responsibility for the violations,” the NCAA reply said.
In its earlier response, Louisville denied that Adidas and its employees are representatives of its athletics interests and claimed it was a victim of the actions of rogue employees and consultants at the apparel company.
“[T]he institution’s administration knew or should have known that Adidas was its booster,” NCAA enforcement staff wrote in its reply. “It should have been very clear to Louisville that if Adidas employees offered or arranged to provide hundreds of thousands of dollars for a prospect to enroll based on his basketball ability, something not available to the general student population or compliant schools, this conduct would be an NCAA violation attributable to the institution.”
A superseding federal indictment alleged that between May 2017 to July 2017, former Adidas employee James Gatto, consultant Merl Code and aspiring business manager Christian Dawkins conspired to provide a $25,000 cash payment as part of a $100,000 offer for Bowen II to sign with the Cardinals. The NCAA alleges that former assistant coach Kenny Johnson also provided a $1,300 payment to Bowen’s father after he enrolled, which Johnson denied.
“This offer and $25,000 payment were designed to give Louisville an advantage over compliant programs,” NCAA enforcement staff wrote. “They were intended to provide a recruiting and competitive edge to Louisville not available to other programs.”
Pitino, who now coaches at Iona, is alleged to have “failed to promote an atmosphere for compliance” after Gatto informed him that he would assist in Louisville’s recruitment of Bowen II. NCAA enforcement staff alleged that Pitino failed to conduct an additional inquiry or report Gatto’s offer to compliance staff “despite [Bowen’s] belated interest in the institution, Pitino’s knowledge of another institution’s alleged cash offer for commitment and Gatto possessing inside knowledge of the institution’s interest in and recruitment of [Bowen].
Pitino has denied knowledge of the pay-for-play scheme involving Bowen II. NCAA enforcement staff wrote that there “were numerous obvious red flags waving in Pitino’s direct line of sight.”
In August 2017, then-Louisville athletics director Tom Jurich announced that the athletics department had reached a 10-year sponsorship extension with Adidas that would pay the Cardinals $160 million in cash and merchandise over the life of the deal. The agreement was the richest Adidas had ever reached with a collegiate athletics department.
“Adidas’ financial contributions to the institution’s athletics programs were large, formal and well-known by the institution and its athletics department administration,” the NCAA reply said.
“It is not a violation of NCAA rules for a corporate entity to be a representative of an institution’s athletics interests. However, an institution is responsible for NCAA rules violations committed by one of its representatives.”
NCAA enforcement staff noted that Louisville senior associate athletics director for compliance John Carns testified during a federal trial “that shoe apparel companies that sponsor NCAA member institutions are considered representatives of the institutions’ athletics interests under NCAA legislation.” The NCAA said Carns confirmed his testimony in an interview with enforcement staff on Aug. 13, 2019.
“In its response, the institution makes numerous attempts to distance itself from Carns’ position that Adidas is a representative of its athletics interests,” the NCAA reply said.
The federal indictment also alleged that Dawkins and others met Brad Augustine, a Florida-based youth basketball director, in a Las Vegas hotel room in July 2017. During that meeting, the federal government alleged, Dawkins and others provided Augustine $12,7000 in the presence of then-Louisville assistant coach Jordan Fair. The NCAA alleges that the payment was made to influence current Florida State player Balsa Koprivica to sign with Louisville.
The NCAA said Fair refused to timely interview and provide requested information to the NCAA, and that Johnson “provided false or misleading information during an interview with enforcement staff” regarding the alleged payment to Bowen’s father.
“While the financial records Johnson provided to the enforcement staff during this investigation do not reflect a $1,300 withdrawal August 23, 2017, Johnson made a $1,100 cash withdrawal August 24, 2017,” the NCAA reply said. “When asked why he withdrew $1,100 cash on that day, Johnson stated: ‘Because I wanted to have $1,100. I don’t — I don’t know — I don’t have a set reason for withdrawing that money.”
“The factual information is credible, persuasive and of a kind on which reasonably prudent persons rely in the conduct of serious affairs, and the enforcement staff believes the information demonstrates that Johnson provided [Bowen’s father], an individual who consistently sought compensation related to his son’s basketball abilities, a $1,300 extra benefit.”