“Some people received short-term banishments or punishments, but if you win, you always get a spot.”
On September 26, 2017, the FBI and federal law enforcement officials unleashed a major explosion in the college basketball world, leading to the arrest of several coaches and ultimately the suspension or firing of several others.
The list also included then-USC assistant coach Tony Bland, who was arrested on bribery-related charges the same day. The aftermath also involved Louisville head coach Rick Pitino (fired in 2017), Arizona head coach Sean Miller (fired in 2021), Kansas head coach Bill Self (suspended in 2022) and LSU head coach Will Wade (fired in 2022).
But those coaches and several others have since been pardoned and even had something of a comeback party this month as active coaches in the NCAA Tournament. Wade was also just rehired as LSU’s head coach as if nothing had happened, serving as a reminder of what’s really important in college sports after all the FBI issues settled down.
“Some players have had short-term bans or punishments, but if they win, there’s always a spot,” said David Ridpath, a sports business professor at Ohio University.
Those March Madness comeback stories (see list below) also raise another big concern on the eve of the Final Four in Indianapolis, observers say.
One question is whether this repression had a lasting purpose or whether it should have been carried out from the beginning. The other concerns former Arizona State assistant coach Emanuel “Book” Richardson, who is still paying the price after serving 90 days in federal prison.
“This is a serious injustice that continues,” one of his supporters said recently.
What was illegal at the time is now generally legal.
The FBI investigation and subsequent NCAA rules enforcement case, aimed at cracking down on allegations of bribes and illegal payments to recruits and their families, seems strange now. NCAA rules have since been changed to legalize certain payments for player name, image and likeness (NIL) starting in 2021.
Sports apparel companies like Adidas can now legally pay NIL directly to athletes. Unlike then, an Adidas consultant testified in a 2018 trial that he made illegal payments to families of freshmen, including those at two Adidas-sponsored schools in Kansas State and Louisville. Both Louisville and Kansas cities were punished for their lack of knowledge.
Kansas spent $10 million over six years fighting a lawsuit alleging that Kansas used Adidas to lure recruits with money. Adidas employees and consultants were also jailed for the crime.
With the current rule structure, this would never have happened.
Richardson told USA TODAY Sports on March 25: “Everything that’s going on (legally now with NIL) is just a microcosm of what’s always going on. Now we can put a name to it (NIL).”
Meanwhile, not everyone will be able to restart their careers like Brand and Pitino, who participated in March Madness this month. Even after serving time in prison and being held accountable for $20,000 in bribes, Richardson was effectively barred from college basketball by a 10-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA, which prosecutors allege used to steer players to specific agents and financial advisors after they entered the NBA.
Some think this prolonged punishment is clearly wrong.
Book Richardson case
Richardson, 53, is seeking federal clemency even though he has already served his sentence. A federal pardon does not erase the NCAA’s 10-year penalty for paying $40,000 to fraudulently obtain a recruit’s high school transcript. However, a pardon would be a meaningful sign of forgiveness. The application was led by a group at New York University that included clinical professor David Hollander.
Hollander told USA TODAY Sports on March 25: “This is an ongoing and serious act of misconduct, and no matter what else the FBI investigation yields, Book Richardson remains under the professional restraints of a 10-year cause. Overreach is not enough because words are not worth a human life. That’s the problem: One person’s entire life has been unilaterally hammered away.”
In 2019, four coaches pleaded guilty to similar bribery charges: Richardson, Brand, former Auburn assistant Chuck Person and former Oklahoma State assistant Lamont Evans. Richardson, Person and Evans will retire from college basketball after serving 10-year show cause penalties. Richardson and Evans have both served time in prison, not Parson or Brand. Brand only received a three-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA and is back in college basketball on the staff at the University of Kansas.
Since then, the under-the-table bribery of those days has been discouraged and replaced by over-the-table business dealings. In addition to allowing athletes to earn money for their NIL, the NCAA also allows them to hire agents to manage their NIL income while in college.
Richardson didn’t miss his timing. He regrets taking the money and now works at St. James Performance Academy in Virginia.
“I spent 90 days in prison and was released in October 2020,” Richardson said. “(Legalized) NIL happened in 2021.”
The NCAA punishment was imposed after he leaves prison in 2022, saying he cannot afford legal defense in another proceeding. “I was incarcerated,” Richardson said. “I thought the worst part was over.”
Most recently, he noticed all the familiar names involved in this month’s March Madness.
List of March Madness coaches suspended for scandal
These coaches coached in the NCAA Tournament this month after being mired in a quagmire stemming from a 2017 FBI investigation.
∎ Tony Brand, now at the University of Kansas, played in his first NCAA Tournament since his arrest.
■ Rick Pitino, currently the head coach at St. John’s, is playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time since being fired by Louisville.
∎ LSU’s Will Wade was caught on an FBI wiretap discussing an “offer” and “deal” for Javonte Smart, a top recruit who later signed with LSU before NIL was legalized. LSU waived Wade for cause in 2022 after the NCAA accused him of serious recruiting violations. The NCAA’s enforcement division also handed him a 10-game suspension and a two-year show-cause penalty. He bounced back as a coach at McNeese State and then North Carolina State, leading them to this month’s NCAA Tournament. He is now all forgiven and returning to LSU. “We’re trying to follow more rules this time,” he recently told reporters. He also received a hero’s welcome at his re-inauguration press conference in Baton Rouge on March 30.
“You don’t get second chances in life, but here you are,” Wade said on March 30.
∎ Kansas coach Bill Self was suspended for four games in 2022 after years of battling allegations related to Adidas. They lost to Pitino vs. St. John’s in the second round on March 22nd.
∎ Head coach Sean Miller took Texas to the NCAA Tournament this month after being fired by Arizona in 2021 and then bouncing back at Xavier. Shortly before firing him, the NCAA accused Arizona State of serious recruiting allegations stemming from the FBI incident. An FBI wiretap caught Book Richardson telling an ambitious agent that Miller “bought” star player Deandre Ayton. Mr. Miller denied that.
∎ Kansas assistant coach Curtis Townsend, who was suspended for four games along with Self in 2022, sat next to Self during the game against St. John’s.
∎ Former Creighton assistant coach Preston Murphy returned to the NCAA Tournament with Alabama this month after being handed a two-year show-cause penalty following an FBI investigation. Although he was not charged with a crime, he allegedly accepted money from a businessman who tried to recruit college athletes to sign with his company.
Richardson said he is happy with these coaches.
“If they have the opportunity to come back and be active, I want the same opportunity,” Richardson said. “I think I have a lot to give.”
Rick Pitino, Bill Self, Adidas March Madness Game
The second round match, which took place in San Diego on March 22nd, particularly stands out against the backdrop of the 2017 FBI scandal.
It was a matchup between two Hall of Fame coaches that was nationally televised on CBS, Self and Kansas at St. John’s vs. Pitino. Before the game, Self sat to the right of assistant coach Townsend, and Brand was seated in the row to his left.
All wore the Adidas “Three Stripes” logo on their sleeves. Their star freshman guard Darrin Peterson is also paid by Adidas, and unlike his pre-2021 players, he is now openly allowed to do so.
On the other side of the court, Pitino’s team also wore Adidas uniforms after signing a sponsorship deal with the company last year.
Adidas-sponsored Peterson scored 21 points, but Adidas-sponsored St. John’s won 67-65 on a buzzer-beating layup.
Considering all this, what was the real impact of this FBI case?
The match took place just a few years after Adidas representatives went to prison and some coaches were punished in a lawsuit involving alleged recruiting by Adidas.
“The time has come to free this man.”
At least Richardson still feels the effects.
“I’ve been to hell and back,” he said. And he never snitched on anyone, which may have helped reduce his sentence.
“It all could have been avoided if everyone had just told me what they thought I knew,” Richardson said.
The NCAA and the U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to messages seeking comment. Meanwhile, the contrast between Richardson and other active coaches hasn’t gone unnoticed in the college basketball world.
“I’m so happy for my friends Will Wade and Sean Miller,” ESPN analyst Fran Frascilla recently said on social media. “I’m not being sarcastic. But I talked to the NCAA about Book Richardson, and it’s really time to let this guy go. His penalty is very, very, very unfair.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
