Former South Carolina assistant among NCAA coaches charged with fraud and corruption

Four college basketball coaches were among those facing federal charges Tuesday in a wide probe of fraud and corruption in the NCAA, authorities said.

The coaches were identified in court papers as Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State, Chuck Person of Auburn University, Emanuel Richardson of the University of Arizona and Tony Bland of the University of Southern California. It was not immediately clear who would represent them at initial court appearances.

Evans was an assistant at South Carolina under Frank Martin from 2012-2016, before being hired at Oklahoma State in April 2016.

Evans was hired by then Oklahoma State head basketball coach Brad Underwood. Underwood and Evans worked together on the staffs at Kansas State and South Carolina.

The coaches were among 10 people charged in Manhattan federal court. Others included managers, financial advisers and representatives of a major international sportswear company. The details were to be discussed at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

Since 2015, the FBI has been investigating the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the NCAA, federal authorities said.

They said the probe has revealed numerous instances in which bribes were paid by athlete advisers, including financial advisers and associate basketball coaches, to assistant and associate basketball coaches to exert influence over student-athletes so the athletes would retain the services of those paying the bribes.

In criminal complaints, investigators said basketball coaches have the ability to provide access to the student-athletes to sports agents, financial advisers, business managers and others.

“Moreover, many such coaches have enormous influence over the student-athletes who play for them, in particular with respect to guiding those student-athletes through the process of selecting agents and other advisers when they prepare to leave college and enter the NBA,” the complaints said. “The investigation has revealed several instances in which coaches have exercised that influence by steering players and their families to retain particular advisers, not because of the merits of those advisers, but because the coaches were being bribed by the advisers to do so,” the papers said.

This story was originally published September 26, 2017 at 10:29 AM with the headline "Former South Carolina assistant among NCAA coaches charged with fraud and corruption."