South Carolina not specifically named or charged in court documents

The arrest of former coach Lamont Evans on federal corruption charges drags the University of South Carolina men’s basketball program back into the national spotlight and raises the question of what it means for the program.

Evans, the former Gamecocks assistant who has been at Oklahoma State since April of 2016, and assistants at Auburn, Southern Cal and Arizona were charged on Tuesday.

But the schools themselves and the head coaches at those schools were never specifically mentioned in the complaint. They have not been hit with any allegations, U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said.

Michael Beasley, who played one year at Kansas State for USC head coach Frank Martin, told a reporter he did not get paid with the Wildcats and referenced Martin’s approach.

“We did it the right way,” Beasley said. “Frank’s a morally humble guy confident in his ways of basketball recruiting.”

In the federal complaint, allegations against Evans were that he received at least $22,000 in bribe money to “exert his influence over certain student-athletes” at both South Carolina and Oklahoma State.

Throughout the complaint in the charges against Evans, one school was referred to as “University-2” and another as “University-3.”

In the complaint from FBI special agent John Vourderis, University-2 was described as:

“Based on my review of publicly available information, I have learned that University-2 is a public research university located in South Carolina. With over approximately 30,000 students, it is one of South Carolina’s largest universities. University-2 fields approximately 19 varsity sports teams in NCAA Division I competition, including men’s basketball.”

University-3 was described as “... a public research university located in Oklahoma. With over 25,000 students, it is one of Oklahoma’s largest universities ...”

The document links Evans to University-2 and University-3: “... from in or about 2012 through in or about April 2016, Lamont Evans, the defendant, served as an assistant coach for the NCAA Division I men’s basketball program at University-2. In or about April 2016, Evans was hired by University-3 as the associate head coach for its Division I men’s basketball program.”

And the charges against Evans include specific references to University-2 and University-3: “... paid at least $22,000 in bribes to Evans in exchange for Evans’ agreement to exert his official influence over certain student-athletes that Evans coached, first at University-2, and then at University-3 ...”

In other developments Wednesday:

▪  Evans surrendered to federal marshals. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Charles Goodwin but did not enter a plea. He spoke only to say that he understood the charges after they were read in court, and that he had not yet thoroughly discussed them with his lawyer.

Evans, a Bahamas native, was told to surrender his passport. Evans’ bond was $50,000.

▪  SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey called the allegations announced by federal authorities “disturbing and, if true, reveal alarming activities within the sport of basketball. ... I find encouragement, however, in the federal government’s willingness to utilize the powerful tools at its unique disposal to hold responsible parties accountable.”

This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 7:29 PM with the headline "South Carolina not specifically named or charged in court documents."