FBI and DOJ Announce Corruption Charges in College Basketball
Jon Wilner today:
BB corruption case, updated
Broadly speaking, Arizona, USC and the Pac-12 were facing three hurdles in the FBI corruption scandal and (pending) NCAA investigation.
The first has been cleared.
Fomer Arizona assistant Book Richardson entered a guilty plea Tuesday on one count of felony bribery, following the path taken by ex-USC assistant Tony Bland.
Both are scheduled for sentencing in the spring but neither reportedly will have to cooperate with authorities. They won't, in other words, be required to divulge information that could incriminate others.
But there are two obstacles remaining before the Wildcats and Trojans escape the scandal:
• The first is another trial.
Christian Dawkins, the low-rent, would-be agent at the center of the FBI sting, is scheduled to face federal authorities in the courtroom in April.
What evidence surfaces is anyone's guess, but the college basketball world will be closely monitoring the events.
"Our level of fight is not going to change because of what other people do," Dawkins' attorney told ESPN in the aftermath of Richardson's plea deal.
• The second hurdle is an NCAA investigation.
The governing body's enforcement staff is free to use evidence that was collected by the FBI or surfaced during two corruption trials in the fall.
One number -- the number 1 -- should concern Arizona coach Sean Miller and USC's Andy Enfield.
NCAA Bylaw 11.1.1.1, better known as "Head Coach Responsibility," states:
"An institution's head coach is presumed to be responsible for the actions of all institutional staff members who report, directly or indirectly, to the head coach. An institution's head coach shall promote an atmosphere of compliance within his or her program and shall monitor the activities of all institutional staff members involved with the program who report, directly or indirectly, to the coach."
Miller, in particular, might have difficulty rebutting charges by the NCAA because he and Richardson have coached together for more than a decade. The NCAA could determine it's reasonable to hold Miller accountable for the actions of someone he knows so well.
Put another way: Plausible deniability won't cut it.
The sanctions for a violation of Bylaw 11.1.1.1 are severe and include show-cause penalties and lengthy suspensions, in addition to havoc wreaked on reputations.
Whether the situation approaches or reaches that stage with Miller and Enfield, only time ... and it could be many more months ... will tell. -- Jon Wilner