Feds give NCAA permission to launch basketball investigations: report

[November 08, 2018]  With the federal investigation into corruption in college basketball complete, the government has given the NCAA permission to begin its own investigation into some programs, Yahoo! Sports reported Wednesday.

The NCAA has been communicating with the federal government since September 2017, when FBI agents took 10 men into custody as part of their investigation.

The first of three trials tied to the investigation ended last month with a conviction of three defendants on wire fraud and conspiracy charges. Additional trials are scheduled for next year.

Testimony in the October federal trial of Adidas executive Jim Gatto, Adidas consultant Merl Code and aspiring agent Christian Dawkins revealed a number of families were offered money for a recruit to attend an Adidas-sponsored school.

Yahoo! Sports said it was unclear which schools the NCAA has been granted permission to investigate, but the programs that came up in the trial last month included Kansas, Louisville, Miami and North Carolina State.

NCAA investigations are expected to begin soon.

On the topic of investigations into NCAA basketball, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, speaking at a college basketball symposium in Indiana on Tuesday, said he regretted downplaying the issue earlier. In October, he called it a "blip" on the radar.

Basketball fans arrive before the semifinals of the 2018 men's Final Four between the Loyola Ramblers and Michigan Wolverines at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports/File Photo

"I should've given it more time and I apologized for that," he said. "I should've said, 'For me, I went to West Point. I was an army officer for five years. I call it a blip on the radar screen of college basketball and that doesn't mean that blip is not a serious thing. We should look at it real close.'

"For me, the college basketball scene has been pretty clean. I haven't encountered those things. ... We haven't lost a kid because I feel someone cheated for him. That's my explanation on it. Again, I apologize for shortchanging the answer."

--Field Level Media

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