An unnamed assistant apparently on the Creighton men’s basketball staff received a $6,000 bribe in a meeting with an aspiring sports agent in exchange for influence over players, according to a federal court indictment.
The indictment was filed Thursday afternoon in a case involving the would-be agent, Christian Dawkins. It states that Dawkins met with the unnamed assistant on July 28, 2017, in a hotel room in Las Vegas. The assistant agreed to steer players to Dawkins’ new sports agency, and an undercover law enforcement agent then paid the assistant a $6,000 cash bribe, according to the indictment.
Creighton is not identified in the indictment. But the document states that the assistant coach works for a Division I institution in Nebraska that has an apparel agreement with a company that has contracts with Arizona, Oklahoma State and USC. Those are all Nike schools, and so is CU. The state’s two other Division I schools — Nebraska and UNO — have apparel contracts with Adidas.
Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen said in a statement Thursday that “university officials will not have a comment regarding the matter until we receive additional information.”
No new charges were announced Thursday. The indictment also states that another assistant, reportedly at TCU, received a $6,000 bribe.
Dawkins already has been convicted of fraud charges for his role in a pay-for-play scheme involving Adidas employees. He and former Adidas executive Merl Code now are facing bribery charges in a second case, and they’re set to go to trial April 22. The new indictment provides new information in that second case.
Thursday’s filing offers yet another link to the college basketball bribery scandal for Creighton, which has been tied to the federal probe that was made public in September 2017.
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel reported Thursday that, according to his sources, the indictment is referring to Creighton and assistant Preston Murphy. Murphy has been linked to Dawkins in previous court testimony.
The Creighton connection centers on the school’s efforts to sign 2017 recruit Brian Bowen, whose recruitment was managed behind the scenes by Dawkins. Bowen signed with Louisville — and his family was promised $100,000 for making that decision.
It was last October when Brian Bowen Sr. made a claim in federal court that Dawkins told him there was an offer in place from Murphy to provide $100,000 and two lucrative jobs to the family if his son chose to play for Creighton. Bowen Sr. provided no further details.
Rasmussen, coach Greg McDermott and Creighton President Daniel S. Hendrickson made statements last fall indicating that internal investigations had found that no NCAA rules were broken.
Murphy has remained on CU’s coaching staff all season. He has not commented on the federal case and did not respond to a World-Herald request for comment Thursday.
Murphy is from Saginaw, Michigan, as is Dawkins.
According to an ESPN report analyzing Dawkins’ cellphone logs, there were 59 calls between Dawkins and Murphy between May 4, 2017, and July 3, 2017.
That same ESPN report said there were at least nine calls between Dawkins and McDermott from May 8, 2017, to June 22, 2017.
Creighton was recruiting Bowen at the time. In addition, former Creighton star Justin Patton entered the NBA draft in 2017 and initially signed with an agency, ASM Sports, that previously employed Dawkins. So it was reasonable that CU’s coaches would be in contact with Dawkins.
Since then, it’s been revealed that Dawkins was under FBI investigation and his phone was being wiretapped.
In the current case, Dawkins is accused of conspiring to bribe three assistants in exchange for their influence over college players. All of those assistants — Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, Arizona’s Emanuel Richardson and USC’s Tony Bland — were fired. They allegedly had received as much as $22,000, according to the original indictment.
Evans, Richardson and Bland have all accepted plea deals.
But Dawkins and Code have not. They appear intent on mounting a defense — a process expected to implicate several high-profile programs across the country.
Attorney Steve Haney, who is representing Dawkins, told Yahoo Sports this week that he intends to subpoena as many college coaches as he can to “pull back the curtains.” Arizona’s Sean Miller and LSU’s Will Wade have reportedly been informed that they will be asked to testify next month.
It’s unclear, at this point, how the NCAA will respond.
There’s an assumption that the preliminary fact-finding aspect of the NCAA investigative process has already started. The NCAA doesn’t comment on ongoing cases. But more is likely to be revealed soon — and the NCAA is reportedly exploring legal avenues to gain access to the previously gathered evidence that hasn’t been or won’t be presented in court.
https://www.omaha.com/creighton/plu...cle_ec9e62e0-026f-5ade-baa4-7ef449212714.html
The indictment was filed Thursday afternoon in a case involving the would-be agent, Christian Dawkins. It states that Dawkins met with the unnamed assistant on July 28, 2017, in a hotel room in Las Vegas. The assistant agreed to steer players to Dawkins’ new sports agency, and an undercover law enforcement agent then paid the assistant a $6,000 cash bribe, according to the indictment.
Creighton is not identified in the indictment. But the document states that the assistant coach works for a Division I institution in Nebraska that has an apparel agreement with a company that has contracts with Arizona, Oklahoma State and USC. Those are all Nike schools, and so is CU. The state’s two other Division I schools — Nebraska and UNO — have apparel contracts with Adidas.
Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen said in a statement Thursday that “university officials will not have a comment regarding the matter until we receive additional information.”
No new charges were announced Thursday. The indictment also states that another assistant, reportedly at TCU, received a $6,000 bribe.
Dawkins already has been convicted of fraud charges for his role in a pay-for-play scheme involving Adidas employees. He and former Adidas executive Merl Code now are facing bribery charges in a second case, and they’re set to go to trial April 22. The new indictment provides new information in that second case.
Thursday’s filing offers yet another link to the college basketball bribery scandal for Creighton, which has been tied to the federal probe that was made public in September 2017.
Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel reported Thursday that, according to his sources, the indictment is referring to Creighton and assistant Preston Murphy. Murphy has been linked to Dawkins in previous court testimony.
The Creighton connection centers on the school’s efforts to sign 2017 recruit Brian Bowen, whose recruitment was managed behind the scenes by Dawkins. Bowen signed with Louisville — and his family was promised $100,000 for making that decision.
It was last October when Brian Bowen Sr. made a claim in federal court that Dawkins told him there was an offer in place from Murphy to provide $100,000 and two lucrative jobs to the family if his son chose to play for Creighton. Bowen Sr. provided no further details.
Rasmussen, coach Greg McDermott and Creighton President Daniel S. Hendrickson made statements last fall indicating that internal investigations had found that no NCAA rules were broken.
Murphy has remained on CU’s coaching staff all season. He has not commented on the federal case and did not respond to a World-Herald request for comment Thursday.
Murphy is from Saginaw, Michigan, as is Dawkins.
According to an ESPN report analyzing Dawkins’ cellphone logs, there were 59 calls between Dawkins and Murphy between May 4, 2017, and July 3, 2017.
That same ESPN report said there were at least nine calls between Dawkins and McDermott from May 8, 2017, to June 22, 2017.
Creighton was recruiting Bowen at the time. In addition, former Creighton star Justin Patton entered the NBA draft in 2017 and initially signed with an agency, ASM Sports, that previously employed Dawkins. So it was reasonable that CU’s coaches would be in contact with Dawkins.
Since then, it’s been revealed that Dawkins was under FBI investigation and his phone was being wiretapped.
In the current case, Dawkins is accused of conspiring to bribe three assistants in exchange for their influence over college players. All of those assistants — Oklahoma State’s Lamont Evans, Arizona’s Emanuel Richardson and USC’s Tony Bland — were fired. They allegedly had received as much as $22,000, according to the original indictment.
Evans, Richardson and Bland have all accepted plea deals.
But Dawkins and Code have not. They appear intent on mounting a defense — a process expected to implicate several high-profile programs across the country.
Attorney Steve Haney, who is representing Dawkins, told Yahoo Sports this week that he intends to subpoena as many college coaches as he can to “pull back the curtains.” Arizona’s Sean Miller and LSU’s Will Wade have reportedly been informed that they will be asked to testify next month.
It’s unclear, at this point, how the NCAA will respond.
There’s an assumption that the preliminary fact-finding aspect of the NCAA investigative process has already started. The NCAA doesn’t comment on ongoing cases. But more is likely to be revealed soon — and the NCAA is reportedly exploring legal avenues to gain access to the previously gathered evidence that hasn’t been or won’t be presented in court.
https://www.omaha.com/creighton/plu...cle_ec9e62e0-026f-5ade-baa4-7ef449212714.html
