What if disgraced former Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino is telling the truth when he says he knew nothing about a former Adidas shoe company executive orchestrating a $100,000 payment to former Cardinals signee Brian Bowen?
That question may have a surprising answer, if one is to believe early government testimony in the first of three criminal trials involving bribes and other corruption in college basketball.
According to Tuesday testimony in U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s New York courtroom, the government testified that former Adidas executive Jim Gatto, former AAU coach and Clemson player Merl Code and former sports agent Christian Dawkins conspired to funnel that money to Bowen’s father, yet keep the deal from Louisville.
If the government’s right, that this was done without Louisville’s knowledge or encouragement, that $36 million lawsuit that Pitino is trying to win against his former employer might suddenly have legs.
If nothing else, the defense arguments for these cases appear to be crystal clear already.