South Carolina men’s basketball receives NCAA notice of allegations
The South Carolina men’s basketball program has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA related to the actions of former assistant coach Lamont Evans.
Sports Illustrated first reported the news Thursday. The notice was dated Jan. 31, 2020.
The allegation is of a Level 1 violation, the most serious possible. The notice includes nothing that reflects on the university or coach Frank Martin, i.e. failure to monitor the program, head-coach responsibility or any lack of institutional control violations.
After his appearance on the weekly Carolina Calls call-in show Thursday night, Martin said: “It’s real simple. It has nothing to do with my staff, with our players, present and past, with Ray Tanner, with the university. We don’t cheat. It’s all based on one individual and that person doesn’t work here.”
The violation is related to a bribe received by former assistant coach Lamont Evans from runner Christian Dawkins in exchange for arranging a meeting between Dawkins and former USC guard P.J. Dozier, in hopes of persuading Dozier and his family to sign with the agency Dawkins worked for. The NCAA alleges Evans was paid at least $5,865. There is no mention of allegations that Dozier accepted money, which likely sidesteps questions of vacating wins.
“The University of South Carolina has received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA related to a former men’s basketball assistant coach. As expected, this does not involve any institutional, current coaching staff or former or current student-athlete eligibility issues. We will continue to defend our program and institution in this process with the NCAA,” athletics director Ray Tanner said in a statement.
According to SI, South Carolina is at least the sixth school to receive a notice.
Evans coached at South Carolina under head coach Frank Martin from 2012 to 2016 before leaving for Oklahoma State. While with the Gamecocks, he was cited as a key figure in the recruitment of Dozier, a McDonald’s All-American, and Sindarius Thornwell, who went on to become SEC Player of the Year.
Evans was at Oklahoma State under former Gamecocks assistant Brad Underwood until he was arrested in 2017 as part of the FBI’s probe into corruption in college basketball. He was one of four assistant coaches and 10 total people who were arrested in the scandal, with the coaches accused of taking bribes to guide players to certain managers and advisors.
In 2019, Evans pleaded guilty to charges of bribery and was sentenced to three months in prison.
Oklahoma State previously received a Notice of Allegations from the NCAA, also alleging a Level 1 violation. It has appealed.
According to the notice, the violation rose to Level 1 because the violations “(a) provided or were intended to provide a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit to a staff member, (b) involved unethical conduct, (c) were intentional or showed reckless indifference to the NCAA constitution and bylaws, (d) seriously undermined or threatened the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model and (e) demonstrated egregious conduct inconsistent with the affirmative responsibility and behavioral expectations of college coaches.”
The notice lists a possibility of a show-cause order, which would bar Evans from college coaching for an extended period. The notice also lists South Carolina’s history of violations, which only includes two smaller ones since 2012 and only three total since 2005.
Dozier played two seasons for South Carolina, starting the majority of both. As a sophomore, he averaged 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 28.7 minutes a game and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first Final Four.
He is currently a member of the Denver Nuggets. Across 15 games, he has averaged 5.5 points in 14.7 minutes.
The notice of allegations
A look at the language in the notice via the NCAA:
“Based on the information contained within the following allegation, the NCAA enforcement staff believes this case should be reviewed by a hearing panel of the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions pursuant to procedures applicable to a severe breach of conduct (Level I violation).”
Allegation: “It is alleged that from at least August 2015 through March 2016, Lamont Evans (Evans), then assistant men’s basketball coach and lead recruiter, violated the NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he knowingly solicited and received benefits in order to influence a student-athlete and his family to meet with and retain ASM Sports, a professional athlete agency. Specifically, Evans accepted approximately $5,856 of supplemental pay in the form of bribes from Christian Dawkins (Dawkins), a runner for ASM Sports, in exchange for Evans’ agreement to arrange meetings with then men’s basketball student-athlete P.J. Dozier (Dozier) and his family and influence them to retain ASM Sports.”
Level of Allegation No. 1: “The enforcement staff believes a hearing panel could conclude that Allegation No. 1 is a severe breach of conduct (Level I) because the violations (a) provided or were intended to provide a substantial or extensive impermissible benefit to a staff member, (b) involved unethical conduct, (c) were intentional or showed reckless indifference to the NCAA constitiution and bylaws, (d) seriously undermined or threatened the integrity of the NCAA Collegiate Model and (e) demonstrated egregious conduct inconsistent with the affirmative responsibility and behavioral expectations of college coaches. [NCAA Bylaws 19.01.5,19.1.1, 19.1.1-(d) and 19.1.1-(h) (2019-20)]”
Involved Individual: “The enforcement staff believes a hearing panel could enter a show-cause order pursuant to NCAA Bylaw 19.9.5.4 regarding Evans’ involvement in Allegation No. 1.”
This story was originally published February 13, 2020 at 6:41 PM.
