In a broad crackdown on college basketball corruption, U.S. prosecutors unveiled charges Tuesday against 10 coaches, managers, financial advisers and representatives of a sportswear company,
accusing them of bribery, fraud and corruption in recruitment in college basketball. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said they will announce the charges against the defendants at a noon news conference. Among those charged are four coaches.
According
to the WSJ, law-enforcement officials are expected to arrest at least a half-dozen people and unseal charges Tuesday "as part of a wide-ranging investigation into alleged bribery and kickback schemes at several of the country’s top-tier college basketball programs, people familiar with the matter said."
Investigators have been looking at whether coaches at these schools have been paid by outside entities—such as financial advisers, agents, and apparel companies—in exchange for pressuring players to associate with those entities, people familiar with the investigation said. Executives at at least one apparel company are expected to be among those arrested, a person familiar with the matter said.
Acording to NBC, coaches at Auburn University, Oklahoma State, South Carolina University and others will be among those charged in the corruption scheme and/or arrested.
The investigation, which is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, has shed light on the highly competitive recruiting pipeline that brings elite high-school basketball players through Division I college programs and into the professional leagues, and the role played by assistant coaches in that process, WSJ sources said.