College basketball blue blood Kansas and three other schools named in Adidas exec's federal indictment
By admin - 2018-04-11 14:40:14

The sweeping federal investigation into corruption in college basketball has now cast its net around traditional blue blood program Kansas, as well as three other powerhouse schools.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York filed additional charges against Adidas marketing executive Jim Gatto on Tuesday in connection with the probe, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Gatton had already been indicted on conspiracy and wire fraud charges stemming from the FBI’s investigation into illegal payments to players and their families.

The indictment names KU, Louisville, Miami and N.C. State as programs with players whose families received under the table payments to attend those schools. All four universities are partners with Adidas and Gatto reportedly defrauded the schools by orchestrating the alleged pay-for-play deals in secret, according to the indictment.

Kansas officials attempted to distance the program from the allegations in a statement released Tuesday night.

“Earlier today, we learned that the University of Kansas is named as a victim in a federal indictment,” read the statement, released by the university’s director of strategic communications, Joe Monaco. “The indictment does not suggest any wrongdoing by the university, its coaches or its staff. We will cooperate fully with the investigation in this matter. Because this is an active investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment further at this time.”