NCAA Under Fire as FBI Investigates Allegations of Bribery in College Basketball

College basketball has been hit with a big-time scandal involving multiple division one college teams, coaches, and players. Last week a story broken by Yahoo Sports revealed that documents with ties to former NBA agent Andy Miller, his former associate Christian Dawkins, and his agency, ASM Sports, were obtained. These documents show expense reports that list cash advances as well as entertainment and travel expenses for high school and college players and their families.

The FBI apparently used wiretappings to capture over 4,000 phone calls, e-mails, and bank record. The investigation has shed light onto a longtime rumor that high-end players, during their time in high school, get advance payments through their agents from schools they commit to play for. Some of the big-name schools mentioned in this report include Duke, North Carolina, Michigan State, and USC with a total of at least 20 other leading colleges.

This illegal underground recruiting market has brought the wrath of NCAA president Mark Emmert. He released a statement saying that those who have been alleged to “engage in this kind of behavior have no place in college sports… they are an insult to all those who play by the rules.”

A document containing the title of “Loan to Players” listed several high school and college players receiving four to five-figure payments from the ASM Sports agency. Specific names include Dennis Smith Jr of the Dallas Mavericks who received $43,000 while he was at N.C. State and Isaiah Edrice Adebayo of the Miami Heat who received $36,500 during his time at Kentucky. The first pick of last year’s NBA draft, Markelle Fultz, received $10,000 during his time at Washington.

The biggest alleged payday came from a phone call with Arizona coach, Sean Miller, who discussed paying freshman star DeAndre Ayton $100,000 to ensure that he would come to play for Arizona. There has been some speculation about this report from ESPN. Ayton’s family lawyer has come out against this report saying, “They are outraged and disgusted by reports that have falsely implied that her son or his family have any involvement in.”

The NCAA president claims that he and his NCAA boards want to make major changes to the system after the completion of this investigation. Many people remain skeptical. This leak has brought in a lot of responses, with coaches and players giving their thoughts on the matter. The biggest thing sports analysts are calling out is the NBA’s “One and Done” rule, which requires that a high school basketball player go to college for at least one year before he be drafted.

The NCAA has also been called out for being highly unfavorable to the athletes and there are even allegations of corruption. Detroit Pistons coach Steve Van Gundy, a longtime critic of the NCAA, did not back down when asked about this report. He said, “The NCAA is one of the worst organizations – maybe the worst organization in sports. They certainly don’t care about the athlete. They’re going to act like they’re appalled by all these things going on in college basketball. Please, it’s ridiculous, and it’s all coming down on the coaches.”

Superstar LeBron James even voiced his disgust with this investigation by calling out the NCAA and saying the NBA should look to expand their minor league system so that players don’t have to go to college. He said, “I don’t know if there is any fixing the NCAA. I don’t think there is. It’s what’s been going on for many, many, many, many years. I don’t know how you can fix it. I don’t see how you can fix it.”

This controversy has brought up many discussions surrounding the choices players should be able to make; that if a highly sought out basketball player wants to go and play for an NBA team, he should have that choice. If a player who has grown up in a poor household should he be able to go to the NBA to help the family out by making money? He should make that choice, instead of having to go to college for a full year.

Should players who go to college get paid for their services instead of just receiving full scholarships? According to sports analysts, the blame for this has mostly gone towards the NCAA for not caring enough about the players’ wellbeing and denying them the choice to play profession basketball. This investigation is only going to gain more momentum as more players, coaches, and colleges get exposed.