# Corruption in College Basketball - DoJ to have major presser at 12pm (EST) today. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 26, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345 "2017-09-26T13:38:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/41 "2017-09-27T15:55:49Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I read the article (thanks!) but didn’t see any statutes or laws mentioned. The process is just beginning. Imo, the reason they came out with this now is to start the dominos falling and line up cooperating witnesses. Do any of us think that any of the actors in this mess declared their ‘earnings’ on their taxes? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/42 "2017-09-27T16:00:37Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Do any of us think that any of the actors in this mess declared their ‘earnings’ on their taxes? Monet laundering is one of the specific charges listed. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/43 "2017-09-27T16:03:17Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Sports Illustrated has a decent high-level layman’s summary of the charges at the end of [this article](https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2017/09/26/fbi-corruption-college-basketball-fraud-louisville-bribe) (see everything under “The Charges” heading). > > The feds have an interest because of the interstate aspect of the bribes and because the federal government supports the schools through grants, financial aid, and tax breaks. > Other charges include[ul] > [li]“Honest services wire fraud" - wire communication to engage in fraudulent acts. [/li][li]Depriving the coaches’ employing universities “of their intangible right to their employees’ honest services"[/li][li]Travel Act conspiracy: travel in interstate commerce, or use of mail or any facility in interstate, with the intent to distribute the proceeds of any unlawful activity or “promote, manage, establish, carry on, or facilitate the promotion, management, establishment, or carrying on, of any unlawful activity." [/li][li]Conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a scheme to defraud high school athletes and their families[/li][li]Money laundering[/li][li]Conspiracy to “steer" college athletes to use specific services, which deprives the (government-funded) university of its “intangible" right to the coaches’ services.[/li][/ul] Thank you for this post, **TroutMan**. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/44 "2017-09-27T16:09:47Z")
It’s that last one that has me confused, because I don’t understand the applicable law(s). > [@](#): > > Conspiracy to “steer" college athletes to use specific services, which deprives the (government-funded) university of its “intangible" right to the coaches’ services. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/45 "2017-09-27T16:12:19Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Monet laundering is one of the specific charges listed. Dear Og, this reached all the way into the world of fine arts? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/46 "2017-09-27T16:18:22Z")
It’s all about the monet, it appears… ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/47 "2017-09-27T16:18:35Z")
Laundering makes all the colors run together, so the painting looks like Impressionism. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/48 "2017-09-27T16:20:28Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Dear Og, this reached all the way into the world of fine arts? :eek: The scandal Goghs much deeper than sports. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/49 "2017-09-27T17:25:03Z")
Ah, [here we go now](https://apnews.com/7e1b85009dbc4f3496c8b381e8fbcd1a): > [@](#): > > Louisville has placed coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich on administrative leave amid a federal bribery investigation. > > Jurich is on paid leave, while Pitino is on unpaid leave. The coach’s attorney, Steve Spence, told the Courier-Journal Wednesday that Louisville has “effectively fired” Pitino. Buh-bye. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/50 "2017-09-27T18:00:57Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Because college football and basketball bring in millions of dollars…and finance the rest of the sports that are expensive and lose money. I think the question being raised, a little facetiously, is why aren’t the athletes pertinent to this same chain of logic? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/51 "2017-09-27T18:24:22Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > The scandal Goghs much deeper than sports. But you have to admit that those high-paid coaches are just price Gauguin. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/52 "2017-09-27T18:39:51Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > Why is the FBI defending amateurism instead of attacking it as they should? “A constitution is not intended to embody a particular economic theory, whether of paternalism and the organic relation of the citizen to the State or of laissez faire.” ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/53 "2017-09-27T19:01:55Z")
> [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > I think the question being raised, a little facetiously, is why aren’t the athletes pertinent to this same chain of logic? Well…the players do get something. A free education. Now you can certainly argue they deserve more and that often colleges steer them into easy courses with little post-collegiate use. Big time college sports are pretty low on things I wish to defend. But they do get something, for NBA headed players (which are very few) it is only one year (which the NBA players union has agreed to) and they can sharpen their skills. Few, if any, high school seniors with talent have gone to European pro leagues. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/54 "2017-09-27T19:07:48Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Well…the players do get something. A free education. Now you can certainly argue they deserve more and that often colleges steer them into easy courses with little post-collegiate use. Big time college sports are pretty low on things I wish to defend. But they do get something, for NBA headed players (which are very few) it is only one year (which the NBA players union has agreed to) and they can sharpen their skills. Few, if any, high school seniors with talent have gone to European pro leagues. They do not get a “free” education; they are paying for it, and losing money as they do so. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/55 "2017-09-27T19:31:04Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Well…the players do get something. A free education. Now you can certainly argue they deserve more and that often colleges steer them into easy courses with little post-collegiate use. Big time college sports are pretty low on things I wish to defend. But they do get something, for NBA headed players (which are very few) it is only one year (which the NBA players union has agreed to) and they can sharpen their skills. Few, if any, high school seniors with talent have gone to European pro leagues. No one denies that they receive some compensation. The issue is whether schools have the right to limit their compensation – from any and all sources. I think that schools have usurped this power mostly because until now nobody thought to complain about it. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/56 "2017-09-27T19:31:26Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > ETA: I can’t find any other stories about Pitino being fired (or resigning) other than the ESPN one, but [Louisville did schedule a press conference for a bit later today](https://apnews.com/7e1b85009dbc4f3496c8b381e8fbcd1a/Louisville-schedules-news-conference-in-midst-of-scandal). I read in one story that Pitino’s contract says that he can’t actually be fired without at least ten days’ notice, which is probably why it’s “unpaid administrative leave” at the moment. I have also seen pics of a tweet that says that one of the Louisville players is being “held out of NCAA activities”; I am assuming this is Brian Bowen, who almost certainly would be declared ineligible if his parents accepted the money. Meanwhile, both Anfernee Simons and Courtney Ramey, who had already verbally agreed to attend Louisville starting next season, have backed out of their commitments. > [@Red\_Wiggler](#): > > I think the question being raised, a little facetiously, is why aren’t the athletes pertinent to this same chain of logic? One factor is, you can’t pay just the football and/or men’s basketball players money; this is one of the reasons Title IX exists. (As I like to point out, “But football and men’s basketball programs are the only ones that make money!” as a defense is pretty much the best reason for keeping Title IX in place.) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/57 "2017-09-27T19:54:24Z")
If they start paying the players then they will start firing the underperforming players. While the current system is bad for the stars, it carries a lot of scrubs through college and into the professions. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/58 "2017-09-27T20:05:18Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > If they start paying the players then they will start firing the underperforming players. They always have, in effect. Scholarships are awarded year to year, and can be taken back from players who are flunking their sport and given to new recruits instead. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/59 "2017-09-27T20:56:27Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I read in one story that Pitino’s contract says that he can’t actually be fired without at least ten days’ notice, which is probably why it’s “unpaid administrative leave” at the moment. > > I have also seen pics of a tweet that says that one of the Louisville players is being “held out of NCAA activities”; I am assuming this is Brian Bowen, who almost certainly would be declared ineligible if his parents accepted the money. > > Meanwhile, both Anfernee Simons and Courtney Ramey, who had already verbally agreed to attend Louisville starting next season, have backed out of their commitments. > One factor is, you can’t pay just the football and/or men’s basketball players money; this is one of the reasons Title IX exists. (As I like to point out, “But football and men’s basketball programs are the only ones that make money!” as a defense is pretty much the best reason for keeping Title IX in place.) This issue is not necessarily about pay from the schools to the athletes. It is more about athletes’ earnings from any and all sources. One of the board experts can correct me if I’m wrong but if Booster Bob wanted to hire Football Jock to hawk his car dealership, I don’t think he’s bound to offer an equivalent deal to Lady Field Hockey. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2017, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345/60 "2017-09-27T20:58:30Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > If they start paying the players then they will start firing the underperforming players. While the current system is bad for the stars, it carries a lot of scrubs through college and into the professions. What would a “firing” look like? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corruption-in-college-basketball-doj-to-have-major-presser-at-12pm-est-today/797345.md?page=4)