The FBI has arrested 10 people, including college basketball coaches and high-level apparel company employees, in connection with an alleged widespread college basketball scheme.

The United States Attorney's Office in New York filed three complaints that allege fraud and corruption in the "dark underbelly of college basketball," acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim said Tuesday at a news briefing.

Four college assistant and associate coaches -- Chuck Person, Lamont Evans, Tony Bland and Emanuel Richardson -- employed at Division I schools with top-tier basketball programs, have "abused the trust" placed in them by players and families, according to the complaints.

They have been charged with wire fraud, bribery, travel act, and conspiracy offenses. According to the complaint, the coaches facilitated and received bribes from athlete advisers, including business managers and financial advisers Christian Dawkins and Munish Sood, over multiple instances, in exchange for directing and pressuring players and their families to retain the services of these advisers.

In a second scheme, the complaints allege that the athlete advisers and individuals affiliated with major athletic apparel company Adidas paid bribes directly to student athletes and their families. The money paid was in exchange for the athlete's commitment to attend a specific university sponsored by the company, and an agreement to ultimately be represented by the "bribe-payers" once they enter the NBA.

"All of those charged today contributed to a pay-to-play culture that has no business in college basketball," Bill Sweeney, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York division, added at the briefing.

The bribed coaches showed little regard to the players' interests, ignoring "red flags and seeing only the green of the cash bribes flowing their way," Kim said.

He provided as an example an adviser who was charged with securities fraud last year and was not reviewed for his qualifications and track record by the coaches before they introduced him to the players.

Defendant Jim Gatto, the director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas, secretly funneled cash to the families of high school recruits and disguised those payments in the company's books, according to Kim, who would not name the company.

In a statement, Adidas said it had become aware on Tuesday that federal investigators arrested an employee, and that the company is learning more about the situation. "We're unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more," an Adidas official said.

As part of the investigations, undercover agents and wiretaps were used. Kim quoted coach Bland telling managers and advisers he can "definitely mold players and put them in the lap of you guys," and Merl Code, a business affiliate of Adidas and its high school and college basketball programs, according to the court documents, saying "it's on the books, but it's not on the books for what it's actually for."

The different schools are the main victims of this scheme, Kim said. Coach Person, who also played and coached in the NBA, is employed by Auburn University, which stated it was "saddened, angry and disappointed" and has suspended Person without pay effective immediately.

The University of Arizona had also immediately suspended assistant coach Richardson, and stated it is "appalled to learn of the allegations as they do not reflect the standards we hold ourselves to and require from our colleagues." The school's planned men's basketball media day, previously scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed.

Oklahoma State University, employer of coach Evans, and University of Southern California, where coach Bland works, expressed their shock and surprise at the allegations. Both universities said they hold their athletic programs to high standards and pledged to cooperate with the investigation.

The University of Louisville has also confirmed it received notice of being included in the federal investigation. It is one of 94 Adidas NCAA schools listed on the company's website.

NCAA President Mark Emmert issued a statement suggesting a "despicable breach" of trust by the implicated coaches. "The nature of the charges brought by the federal government are deeply disturbing. We have no tolerance whatsoever for this alleged behavior," he said.</s>U.S. authorities on Tuesday unveiled fraud charges against 10 people, including four coaches and an Adidas AG executive, associated with some of the country's premier college basketball programs following a multi-year corruption probe.

Prosecutors said they uncovered many instances in which apparel executives, financial advisers and others bribed assistant college coaches to steer elite players to them, with some money going to athletes' families.

Bribes also went to star high school players to win their commitments to play for particular schools, prosecutors said.

The charges include bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy, and arose from a probe that began in 2015 of "the criminal influence of money" on basketball governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, prosecutors said.

Perhaps the best-known defendant charged is Chuck Person, a former National Basketball Association star who is now an associate head coach at Auburn University, his alma mater.

The other coaches charged are Anthony "Tony" Bland, from the University of Southern California; Lamont Evans, from Oklahoma State University; and Emanuel "Book" Richardson, from the University of Arizona.

Among the other defendants are James Gatto, director for global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas and Rashan Michel, founder and operator of a clothing company in Atlanta.

A money manager, Munish Sood, was also charged, as was a onetime sports agent, Christian Dawkins.

Representatives of the universities and the NCAA, which regulates college basketball, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Adidas said in an email that one of its employees had been arrested. "We're unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more," it said.

Sood's firm was not named in court papers. A spokeswoman for a firm matching its description had no immediate comment.

Contact information for lawyers for the other defendants could not immediately be located.

Person was a two-time All-American at Auburn and became its all-time scoring leader. He later played for the Indiana Pacers and other teams in a 13-year NBA career.

Prosecutors said Person accepted $91,500 of bribes over 10 months to steer Auburn basketball players he thought capable of joining the NBA to buy suits from Michel and hire an unnamed cooperating witness to provide financial services. They said he kicked back $18,500 to the families of two of the players.

Person allegedly told a current Auburn player at a secretly recorded December 2016 meeting at a Manhattan hotel that he knew some help he was providing was "a violation ... of rules, but this is how the NBA players get it done, they get early relationships, and they form partnerships, they form trust."

In a separate complaint, prosecutors said Gatto and others funneled $100,000 from Adidas, identified as "Company-1," to a high school basketball player's family to secure his commitment to play at a Kentucky university sponsored by Adidas.

Prosecutors also said the player agreed to sign a contract with Adidas upon turning professional.

The university is not named, but its description matches that of the University of Louisville. The school did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan was holding a news conference to discuss the charges.</s>NEW YORK (AP) - In one of the biggest crackdowns on the corrupting role of money in college basketball, 10 men - including a top Adidas executive and four assistant coaches - were charged Tuesday with using hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence star athletes' choice of schools, shoe sponsors, agents, even tailors.

Some of the most explosive allegations appeared to involve Louisville, one of college basketball's biggest powerhouses, which is already on NCAA probation over a sex scandal.

Federal prosecutors said at least three top high school recruits were promised payments of as much as $150,000, using money supplied by Adidas, to attend two universities sponsored by the athletic shoe company. Court papers didn't name the schools but contained enough details to identify them as Louisville and Miami.

"The picture of college basketball painted by the charges is not a pretty one," said acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim, adding that the defendants were "circling blue-chip prospects like coyotes" and exploited them to enrich themselves.

Prosecutors said that while some of the bribe money went to athletes and their families, some went to coaches, to get them to use their influence over their potentially NBA-bound players.

The coaches charged are Chuck Person of Auburn, Emanuel Richardson of Arizona, Tony Bland of Southern California and Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State. Person and Evans were suspended, and Bland was placed on administrative leave.

Bland appeared in court in Tampa, Florida, wearing handcuffs and ankle chains. He said little during a brief hearing other than to answer the judge's questions and did not enter a plea.

Richardson appeared in court in Tucson, Arizona, where he was set for release on $50,000 bond. His lawyer declined to comment.

Those charged also include James Gatto, director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas; Rashan Michel, a maker of custom suits for some of the NBA's biggest stars; and various financial advisers and managers.

NCAA President Mark Emmert condemned the alleged misconduct, saying, "Coaches hold a unique position of trust with student-athletes and their families, and these bribery allegations, if true, suggest an extraordinary and despicable breach of that trust."

Since 2015, the FBI has been investigating the influence of money on coaches and players in the NCAA. Kim noted a special FBI hotline was set up and asked anyone aware of additional corruption to come forward.

Prosecutors said the coaches took bribes to use their "enormous influence" to steer players toward certain financial advisers and agents.

Most if not all of the 10 defendants were under arrest. Lawyers for Gatto and two of the coaches did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It was unclear whether Evans had an attorney.

Adidas said it was unaware of any misconduct by an employee and vowed to fully cooperate with authorities.

Gatto and others are accused of funneling $100,000 to the family of a high school athlete to gain his commitment to play at Louisville and to sign with Adidas once he became a professional. Louisville and Adidas announced a 10-year, $160 million extension of their sponsorship deal over the summer.

The player's name was not released, but details in the criminal complaint make it clear investigators were referring to Brian Bowen, who did not return messages seeking comment.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said the allegations "come as a complete shock to me."

The development comes as Louisville is appealing a four-year NCAA probation over a scandal involving escorts hired for players and recruits. The scandal could cost the school its 2013 national championship.

In court papers Tuesday, the FBI said it recorded a July meeting at which an assistant coach at Louisville was briefed on a plan to funnel thousands of dollars to a potential high school recruit. The participants in the meeting noted they had to be careful because Louisville was on probation.

"We gotta be very low key," said the coach, according to the FBI.

Investigators said agents wiretapped a call in which Gatto and another defendant discussed an unidentified coach at Miami requesting that Adidas pay as much as $150,000 to another recruit, in part to prevent him from accepting a similar offer from a rival apparel company.

Louisville interim President Gregory Postel confirmed the university has been informed it is part of the investigation and said, "Any violations will not be tolerated."

Miami said it will cooperate with authorities, while USC said it appointed former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh to conduct an internal investigation.

The investigation began after Martin Blazer, a Pittsburgh-based financial adviser to pro athletes, began cooperating with authorities in 2014. Blazer, accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of taking money from clients without permission, pleaded guilty this month to fraud and other crimes.

He admitted making payments and loans to NCAA athletes as far back as 2000 to get them to hire him.

Person, associate head coach at Auburn, was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in 1986 and played for five NBA teams over 13 seasons.

Prosecutors said Person accepted about $91,500 in bribes from Blazer last year to steer clients to him when they reached the NBA. Some payments were alleged to have been arranged by Michel, a former NBA referee turned high-end clothier.

Person was quoted by prosecutors as telling one player: "The most important part is that you ... don't say nothing to anybody ... don't share with your sisters, don't share with any of the teammates, that's very important 'cause this is a violation ... of rules. But this is how the NBA players get it done."

Prosecutors said Evans solicited at least $22,000 over the past two years, while Richardson in February was paid $20,000 in bribes, some of which he kept for himself and some of which he gave to at least one high school athlete to get him to play for Arizona.

Associated Press writers Fred Goodall in Tampa, Florida, Gary Graves in Louisville, Kentucky, Larry Lage in Detroit and Fred Lief in New York contributed.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Mark Emmert said Tuesday that the NCAA has "no tolerance whatsoever" for the behaviour alleged by federal prosecutors.

Four assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State were among those arrested on federal corruption charges earlier Tuesday. Authorities say they were caught taking thousands of dollars in bribes to steer stars toward certain agents or advisers.

Emmert says coaches hold a "unique position of trust" between players and their families and that the allegations suggest "an extraordinary and despicable breach of that trust."

Also charged was the director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas.

Federal prosecutors say at least three top high school basketball players were promised payments of as much as $150,000 to attend two colleges that were sponsored by Adidas.

The criminal complaints filed with the court didn't name the schools but contained details that identified them as the University of Louisville and the University of Miami.

Investigators said some coaches at those schools encouraged those payments. No one from the schools was charged.

They say the payments were orchestrated by an Adidas executive and business advisers who hoped to work with the players after they turned professional.

Louisville interim President Gregory Postel issued a statement calling the case a "serious concern" and pledging co-operation with any law enforcement or NCAA investigation.

A University of Miami spokesman says it couldn't comment.

Auburn University says it has suspended an assistant coach accused of taking a $50,000 bribe in exchange for steering a player into doing business with a certain financial adviser.

Chuck Person was arrested in Alabama on Tuesday in a case that involves corruption charges against 10 coaches, agents and sports marketing executives at several universities.

The university said in a statement that Person had been suspended without pay effective immediately.

Person was the associate head coach at Auburn. He played in the NBA for 13 seasons.

Adidas says it's unaware of any misconduct at its company in a college basketball bribe-paying scheme but will "fully co-operate with authorities."

The company issued a statement Tuesday after federal prosecutors announced that its director of global sports marketing is charged along with four college assistant coaches.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim says the investigation was "covert until today."

The head of New York's FBI office, William F. Sweeney Jr., says the probe is still active and investigators are conducting interviews "as we speak."

Federal investigators say a group of business advisers to athletes used thousands of dollars in Adidas money to make payments to top high school basketball players to get them to attend certain schools.

The acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan says the picture of college basketball painted by criminal charges his office brought against four college assistant coaches and an Adidas executive is not a pretty one.

Joon Kim made the comment at a news conference Tuesday after the charges were unsealed in Manhattan federal court. Assistant coaches at Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State were expected to appear in courts later Tuesday to face the charges.

Kim says the case against 10 men, including sports agents and marketing professionals, exposed "the dark underbelly of college basketball." He says the coaches exploited the "trust of the players they coached and recruited."

It was not immediately clear who will represent the coaches in court.

The director of global sports marketing for Adidas is among those charged in a bribe-paying scheme that federal authorities say was designed to match agents and advisers to players before they became NBA stars.

James Gatto was arrested Tuesday along with nine others, including four assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State. It was not immediately clear who will represent him in court.

In criminal complaints, authorities said agents and financial advisers paid bribes to assistant coaches to get them to introduce them to star college players and their parents before the students turned professional.

Authorities said the coaches received thousands of dollars in bribes, enabling the agents and others to get a slice of the millions of dollars the athletes could eventually make in the NBA.

Federal prosecutors have announced charges of fraud and corruption in college basketball, including against four coaches.

The coaches work at Oklahoma State, Auburn University, Arizona and the University of Southern California.

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

In court papers, prosecutors said the FBI has since 2015 been investigating the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the NCAA.

They said the probe has revealed numerous instances of bribes paid by athlete advisers, including financial advisers and associate basketball coaches, to assistant and associate basketball coaches to exert influence over student athletes.

By The Associated Press</s>The Latest on fraud and corruption charges announced against people associated with college basketball (all times local):

University of Louisville men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino says he’s shocked by corruption allegations made by prosecutors in New York against some college basketball assistant coaches.

A top Adidas executive and four assistant coaches are among 10 men charged with using hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence star athletes’ choice of schools, shoe sponsors and agents.

Some of the most explosive allegations appear to involve Louisville, which already is on NCAA probation over a sex scandal. Court papers contain enough details to identify Louisville.

Pitino says he agrees with prosecutors that third-party schemes initiated by a few bad actors “operated to commit a fraud” on universities and their basketball programs. He says fans and supporters deserve better.

A University of Southern California basketball assistant coach charged in a massive corruption case has made his initial court appearance in Florida.

Tony Bland went into the courtroom wearing handcuffs and ankle chains Tuesday. He said little during the brief hearing other than to answer the judge’s questions. He did not enter a plea and said he needs a lawyer.

Prosecutors recommended Bland be released on $100,000 bail with the understanding he must appear Oct. 10 in federal court in New York for another hearing. That was granted by the U.S. magistrate judge.

The judge says Bland can travel back to his home in Gardenia, California.

A top Adidas executive and four assistant coaches are among 10 men charged with using hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to influence star athletes’ choice of schools, shoe sponsors and agents.

The president of the NCAA says charges that bribes were exchanged to influence NBA-destined college stars’ choice of schools, agents and financial advisers are “deeply disturbing.”

Mark Emmert said Tuesday that the NCAA has “no tolerance whatsoever” for the behavior alleged by federal prosecutors.

Four assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State were among those arrested on federal corruption charges earlier Tuesday. Authorities say they were caught taking thousands of dollars in bribes to steer stars toward certain agents or advisers.

Emmert says coaches hold a “unique position of trust” between players and their families and that the allegations suggest “an extraordinary and despicable breach of that trust.”

Also charged was the director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas.

Federal prosecutors say at least three top high school basketball players were promised payments of as much as $150,000 to attend two colleges that were sponsored by Adidas.

The criminal complaints filed with the court didn’t name the schools but contained details that identified them as the University of Louisville and the University of Miami.

Investigators said some coaches at those schools encouraged those payments. No one from the schools was charged.

They say the payments were orchestrated by an Adidas executive and business advisers who hoped to work with the players after they turned professional.

Louisville interim President Gregory Postel issued a statement calling the case a “serious concern” and pledging cooperation with any law enforcement or NCAA investigation.

A University of Miami spokesman says it couldn’t comment.

Auburn University says it has suspended an assistant coach accused of taking a $50,000 bribe in exchange for steering a player into doing business with a certain financial adviser.

Chuck Person was arrested in Alabama on Tuesday in a case that involves corruption charges against 10 coaches, agents and sports marketing executives at several universities.

The university said in a statement that Person had been suspended without pay effective immediately.

Person was the associate head coach at Auburn. He played in the NBA for 13 seasons.

Adidas says it’s unaware of any misconduct at its company in a college basketball bribe-paying scheme but will “fully cooperate with authorities.”

The company issued a statement Tuesday after federal prosecutors announced that its director of global sports marketing is charged along with four college assistant coaches.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim says the investigation was “covert until today.”

The head of New York’s FBI office, William F. Sweeney Jr., says the probe is still active and investigators are conducting interviews “as we speak.”

Federal investigators say a group of business advisers to athletes used thousands of dollars in Adidas money to make payments to top high school basketball players to get them to attend certain schools.

The acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan says the picture of college basketball painted by criminal charges his office brought against four college assistant coaches and an Adidas executive is not a pretty one.

Joon Kim made the comment at a news conference Tuesday after the charges were unsealed in Manhattan federal court. Assistant coaches at Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State were expected to appear in courts later Tuesday to face the charges.

Kim says the case against 10 men, including sports agents and marketing professionals, exposed “the dark underbelly of college basketball.” He says the coaches exploited the “trust of the players they coached and recruited.”

It was not immediately clear who will represent the coaches in court.

The director of global sports marketing for Adidas is among those charged in a bribe-paying scheme that federal authorities say was designed to match agents and advisers to players before they became NBA stars.

James Gatto was arrested Tuesday along with nine others, including four assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State. It was not immediately clear who will represent him in court.

In criminal complaints, authorities said agents and financial advisers paid bribes to assistant coaches to get them to introduce them to star college players and their parents before the students turned professional.

Authorities said the coaches received thousands of dollars in bribes, enabling the agents and others to get a slice of the millions of dollars the athletes could eventually make in the NBA.

Federal prosecutors have announced charges of fraud and corruption in college basketball, including against four coaches.

The coaches work at Oklahoma State, Auburn University, Arizona and the University of Southern California.

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

In court papers, prosecutors said the FBI has since 2015 been investigating the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the NCAA.

They said the probe has revealed numerous instances of bribes paid by athlete advisers, including financial advisers and associate basketball coaches, to assistant and associate basketball coaches to exert influence over student athletes.</s>The FBI today arrested 10 people including a top Adidas exec on charges that the company illegally funneled cash to high-school athletes in exchange for pledges to attend Adidas-sponsored universities. The University of Miami isn't named in the complaint, but details strongly suggest the feds have tied the school to recruits who took payouts from the sportswear company.

The feds say that Jim Gatto, Adidas' head of sports marketing, and his cohort paid a high-school athlete $150,000 in exchange for that player agreeing to attend a "private research university located in Florida" with roughly 16,000 students, 15 Division I sports teams, and a sponsorship deal with Adidas. Those details all match UM, which entered into a 12-year partnership with Adidas two years ago estimated to be worth more than $90 million.

UM spokespeople declined to confirm or deny whether the school was involved in the federal probe, but said they would cooperate with authorities if asked.

“The University of Miami is aware of the indictments handed down today by the Department of Justice involving several men’s college basketball programs, coaches, financial advisors, agents and apparel executives," a UM spokesperson said via email. "As we are just learning the details, we cannot comment on the actions taken today by federal authorities. However, if requested, we will cooperate in any legal or NCAA review of the matter.”

The federal complaint also suggests that a coach at the Florida school — listed only as "University 7" — was involved in the bribery process. An anonymous coach, listed only as "Coach 3," allegedly spoke with Gatto twice on August 6, 2017. The FBI claims the payments to the recruit were made "at the request of" the anonymous coach. That unnamed coach "knows everything," two of the people arrested said while being wiretapped, the FBI claims.

Gatto and four other defendants are charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit both of those crimes. In addition to Gatto, the FBI charged fellow Adidas executive (and former Nike employee) Merl Code, NBA agent Christian Dawkins, financial adviser Munish Sood, former NBA official Rishan Michel, and Jonathan Brad Augustine, who runs the Adidas-sponsored "1 Family AAU" program.

The FBI also charged four college basketball assistant coaches — Auburn's Chuck Person, Southern California's Tony Bland, Emanuel Richardson, and Oklahoma State's Lamont Evans — with multiple federal charges, including bribery. The FBI says it began looking harder at the NCAA-sports underworld in 2015; it's long been suspected that "amateur" players receive cash under the table, but the public has largely not known how.

The complaint claims that the five men charged in the Adidas probe worked to "defraud" the anonymous university believed to be since they allegedly tricked the university into enrolling athletes who were not eligible for scholarships.

The federal complaint sheds some light on that black market for top college talent. But it also shows how remarkably stupid the current payment restrictions on "amateur" student athletes are. The NCAA says players can't take a dime of sponsorship money from companies like Adidas if they want to remain eligible to play — but major athletic brands (e.g. Nike, Under Armour, Puma, et cetera) and major sports networks such as ESPN make billions off the backs of those same players. The NCAA argues that the students should just be happy with getting free degrees in exchange for playing sports, but money schools and TV networks make compared to the peanuts they give student athletes is wholly out of whack.

As today's complaint shows, schools and athletes just find ways to game the system anyhow. The FBI's case suggests a massive underground sports-company payment machine, where multiple firms secretly funnel money to recruits on behalf of university programs and coaches. In UM's (alleged) case, the anonymous basketball coach helped Adidas orchestrate the deal just so UM wouldn't lose the recruit to another anonymous university, which had also offered the player $150,000 through a rival athletic company.

According to the complaint, the coach, Gatto, and four other men were caught on wiretaps multiple times last August admitting they were in something of a bidding war over the player.

'[W]e're trying to keep him from going to one of their schools," one of the defendants, Merl Code, was caught saying. He added that the payments would be sent to the player's family gradually, and would not be "all in one lump sum."

Gatto and Code were caught multiple times saying that anonymous "Coach 3," believed to be a UM official, was pressuring them to funnel cash to the player.

"[University 7] wants this kid named [Player 12]," the men were caught on tape admitting.

UM only recently overcame the fallout from its last major athletics scandal: In 2011, Ponzi schemer and school booster Nevin Shapiro claimed he gave more than $2 million in illegal benefits to 72 football players from 2002 to 2010. By August 2011, UM had striped eligibility from 13 players tied to Shapiro, and the NCAA later imposed harsh sanctions on the team.

Many worried the scandal would end the historic UM football program permanently, but the school's athletic program has lived on to possibly break NCAA rules yet again. The basketball program, now in its seventh year under head coach Jim Larrañaga, has been something of a national breakout, twice making the Sweet 16 at the NCAA Tournament.</s>The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced early Tuesday that charges of fraud and corruption in college basketball against four current assistant coaches -- Arizona's Emanuel "Book" Richardson, Auburn's Chuck Person, Oklahoma State's Lamont Evans and USC's Tony Bland -- will be detailed at a noon ET press conference. Managers, financial advisers and representatives of a major international sportswear company are also involved.

The four basketball coaches were arrested late Monday.

Among other things, Person is accused of accepting payments from an agent who was trying to development a business relationship with Auburn's Austin Wiley and his family. The sophomore center was a top-40 prospect coming out of high school. Richardson, Evans and Bland are accused of similar crimes.

Jim Gatto, director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas, was among those arrested. He's accused of helping funnel approximately $100,000 to the family of an "All-American high school basketball player" to secure the prospect's commitment to a school Adidas sponsors. According to documents, the prospect committed in June. The only "All-American high school basketball player" who committed to a school Adidas sponsors in June is Brian Bowen. He's now enrolled at Louisville.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino was asked about Bowen's commitment in June.

"We got lucky on this one," Pitino said. "I had an AAU director call me and say, 'Would you be interested in a basketball player?' I said ... 'Yeah, I'd be really interested.' But [Bowen and his people] had to come in unofficially, pay for their hotels, pay for their meals. So we spent zero dollars recruiting a five-star athlete who I loved when I saw him play. In my 40-some-odd years of coaching, this is the luckiest I've been."

NBA agent Christian Dawkins was among those arrested. According to documents, he told an unidentified Louisville coach they would have to be "particularly careful" with how they passed money to Bowen and his family because Louisville was already on probation. The Louisville coach agreed, according to the document, and said, "We gotta be very low key."

"I don't know anything about that," Bowen's mother, Carrie Malecke, told the Louisville Courier-Journal on Tuesday. "I don't know anything about that. I'm not aware of anything like that. Not me. I had no idea."

The USAO described the investigation as such: "Since 2015, the FBI and USAO have been investigating the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the NCAA. As relevant here, the investigation has revealed numerous instances of bribes paid by athletic advisors, including financial advisors and business managers, among others, to assistant and associate basketball coaches employed by NCAA Division I universities as facilitated by the coaches, in exchange for those coaches exerting influence over student-athletes under their control to retain the services of the bribe-payers once the athletes enter the National Basketball Association."

CBS Sports will be updating this breaking news story.</s>The criminal complaints filed with the court didn't name the schools but contained details that identified them as the University of Louisville and the University of Miami.

Investigators said some coaches at those schools encouraged those payments. No one from the schools was charged.

They say the payments were orchestrated by an Adidas executive and business advisers who hoped to work with the players after they turned professional.

Louisville interim President Gregory Postel issued a statement calling the case a "serious concern" and pledging co-operation with any law enforcement or NCAA investigation.

A University of Miami spokesman says it couldn't comment.

Auburn University says it has suspended an assistant coach accused of taking a $50,000 bribe in exchange for steering a player into doing business with a certain financial adviser.

Chuck Person was arrested in Alabama on Tuesday in a case that involves corruption charges against 10 coaches, agents and sports marketing executives at several universities.

The university said in a statement that Person had been suspended without pay effective immediately.

Person was the associate head coach at Auburn. He played in the NBA for 13 seasons.

Adidas says it's unaware of any misconduct at its company in a college basketball bribe-paying scheme but will "fully co-operate with authorities."

The company issued a statement Tuesday after federal prosecutors announced that its director of global sports marketing is charged along with four college assistant coaches.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim says the investigation was "covert until today."

The head of New York's FBI office, William F. Sweeney Jr., says the probe is still active and investigators are conducting interviews "as we speak."

Federal investigators say a group of business advisers to athletes used thousands of dollars in Adidas money to make payments to top high school basketball players to get them to attend certain schools.

The acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan says the picture of college basketball painted by criminal charges his office brought against four college assistant coaches and an Adidas executive is not a pretty one.

Joon Kim made the comment at a news conference Tuesday after the charges were unsealed in Manhattan federal court. Assistant coaches at Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State were expected to appear in courts later Tuesday to face the charges.

Kim says the case against 10 men, including sports agents and marketing professionals, exposed "the dark underbelly of college basketball." He says the coaches exploited the "trust of the players they coached and recruited."

It was not immediately clear who will represent the coaches in court.

The director of global sports marketing for Adidas is among those charged in a bribe-paying scheme that federal authorities say was designed to match agents and advisers to players before they became NBA stars.

James Gatto was arrested Tuesday along with nine others, including four assistant basketball coaches from Arizona, Auburn, the University of Southern California and Oklahoma State. It was not immediately clear who will represent him in court.

In criminal complaints, authorities said agents and financial advisers paid bribes to assistant coaches to get them to introduce them to star college players and their parents before the students turned professional.

Authorities said the coaches received thousands of dollars in bribes, enabling the agents and others to get a slice of the millions of dollars the athletes could eventually make in the NBA.

Federal prosecutors have announced charges of fraud and corruption in college basketball, including against four coaches.

The coaches work at Oklahoma State, Auburn University, Arizona and the University of Southern California.

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

In court papers, prosecutors said the FBI has since 2015 been investigating the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the NCAA.

They said the probe has revealed numerous instances of bribes paid by athlete advisers, including financial advisers and associate basketball coaches, to assistant and associate basketball coaches to exert influence over student athletes.

By The Associated Press</s>LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - The University of Louisville appears to be one of seven schools implicated in a scathing cash-for-talent report released Tuesday.

Charges were filed against several assistant and associate coaches at high-profile NCAA basketball programs, major sports apparel providers and some of their business associates.

FBI agents made several arrests Monday evening. Federal prosecutors announced the charges on Tuesday, following a fraud and corruption probe that stretches back to 2015.

At a news conference at about 12:15 p.m., United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joon Kim, opened his remarks candidly.

"Coaches from some of the nation's top programs accepting bribes ... circling top prospects like coyotes," he said. "If you read the three complaints you will find yourself in the dark underbelly of college basketball."

No UofL coaches were identified by name in any of the several lengthy reports released Tuesday by the the U.S. Attorney's Office. The school itself wasn't even named, but there is enough information in the complaints for WAVE 3 News to identify UofL.

UofL spokesman Kenny Klein told WAVE 3 News at 11:25 a.m. Tuesday that he was "not aware of anything at this point. We're hearing this for the first time in the last hour."

Adidas global marketing director Jim Gatto and the other defendants reportedly funneled $100,000 to the family of a high school basketball player to convince the player to sign with a "public research university" in Kentucky, the complaints said. UofL's basketball apparel is provided by Adidas.

Conspirators were "allegedly treating (the players) as little more than opportunities to enrich themselves through bribery and fraud schemes," Kim said.

Information in the complaints implicate a "Player 10," which appears to be Brian Bowen, currently on the UofL roster, whose family received a cash gift. In July, several of the defendants met in a Las Vegas hotel room, where the FBI recorded their conversation. In that meeting, the defendants discussed how they had secured (Bowen's) commitment. One of the agents said "a rival athletic apparel company was coming with a higher number." One of the agents said he asked a coach at Louisville, identified in the complaints as "Coach 2," to secure more money from Adidas for (Bowen).

The complaint then said call records indicate three calls were made from Coach 2's phone number to Gatto shortly before (Bowen) committed to UofL.

Coach 2 is not identified by name in the complaint, except when one of the defendants -- Brad Augustine, program director of a Florida AAU league sponsored by Adidas -- said "no one swings a bigger d*** than Coach 2 with Adidas." He continued, "all (Coach 2 has to do) is pick up the phone and call somebody, (and say), 'these are my guys; they're taking care of us.'"

The complaint does not specify whether Coach 2 is an assistant or head coach. However, the UofL assistant coach in the Las Vegas hotel room "explained that '(Coach 2) is not a guy to have his own agent already set up,' so that it would fall upon Coach 1 and another assistant coach at (UofL) to steer the athletes to certain advisors."

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"Fraud, abuse and corruption of the type alleged in the charges brought today contaminates all that is good and pure around it and it has no place in college sports," Kim said.

At that same meeting in Las Vegas, the defendants discussed a future recruit expected to graduate from high school in 2019, identified in the complaints as Player 11. Christian Dawkins, a prospective agent, explained to the group "the player we're talking about tonight is (Player 11) with (UofL)." Dawkins told the group that the player's family was demanding money, and "we're all working together to get this kid to (UofL)."

Dawkins acknowledged that (UofL) already was on probation with the NCAA, which levied the sanctions on UofL following the Katina Powell scandal. UofL is still appealing some of the penalties in that case. Dawkins "indicated that they would have to be particularly careful with how they passed money to Player 11 and his family."

The UofL coach in the room agreed, stating "we gotta be very low-key," the complaint said. Dawkins suggested that payments go through Augustine and his organization. Augustine told the group "all my kids will be (Adidas) kids."

At that point, an undercover FBI agent handed Augustine an envelope containing $12,700 in cash, according to the complaint, which then detailed how payments to the families of Players 10 and 11 have continued. WAVE 3 News is working to confirm the identity of Player 11.

Who Else Is Implicated?

Former NBA star Chuck Person, now an associate head coach at Auburn University, is among the assistant coaches named in the initial 32-page complaint unsealed Tuesday morning. Lamont Evans, an assistant coach at Oklahoma State, also is one of the men facing charges. Prior to his hiring at OSU in 2016, Evans spent the previous four seasons as an assistant at the University of South Carolina. Both schools appear to be identified in the complaint.

The University of Southern California and the University of Arizona also appear to be among the schools who have assistant coaches under investigation.

Emanuel "Book" Richardson (Arizona) and Anthony Bland (Southern California) are among the other assistant coaches mentioned.

"For the defendants charged today, the madness of college basketball went well beyond the big dance in March," Kim said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office began its investigation into Person and Rashad Michel, a former NBA and NCAA basketball official whose "clothing company has a client base that consists primarily of professional athletes," according to the complaint.

The complaint also included a very telling excerpt about the two-year-long investigation:

"Since 2015, the FBI and USAO have been investigating the criminal influence of money on coaches and student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate basketball governed by the NCAA. As relevant here, the investigation has revealed numerous instances of bribes paid by athlete advisors, including financial advisors and business managers, among others, to assistant and associate basketball coaches employed by NCAA Division I universities, and sometimes directly to the student-athletes at Division I universities as facilitated by the coaches, in exchange for those coaches exerting influence over student-athletes under their control to retain the services of bribe-payors once the athletes enter the National Basketball Association ("NBA")."</s>The United States Attorney's Office in New York filed three complaints that allege fraud and corruption in the "dark underbelly of college basketball," acting US Attorney Joon H. Kim said Tuesday at a news briefing.

Four college assistant and associate coaches -- Chuck Person, Lamont Evans, Tony Bland and Emanuel Richardson -- employed at Division I schools with top-tier basketball programs, have "abused the trust" placed in them by players and families, according to the complaints.

They have been charged with wire fraud, bribery, travel act, and conspiracy offenses. According to the complaint, the coaches facilitated and received bribes from athlete advisers, including business managers and financial advisers Christian Dawkins and Munish Sood, over multiple instances, in exchange for directing and pressuring players and their families to retain the services of these advisers.

In a second scheme, the complaints allege that the athlete advisers and individuals affiliated with major athletic apparel company Adidas paid bribes directly to student athletes and their families. The money paid was in exchange for the athlete's commitment to attend a specific university sponsored by the company, and an agreement to ultimately be represented by the "bribe-payers" once they enter the NBA.

"All of those charged today contributed to a pay-to-play culture that has no business in college basketball," Bill Sweeney, assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York division, added at the briefing. The bribed coaches showed little regard to the players' interests, ignoring "red flags and seeing only the green of the cash bribes flowing their way," Kim said. He provided as an example an adviser who was charged with securities fraud last year and was not reviewed for his qualifications and track record by the coaches before they introduced him to the players. Defendant Jim Gatto, the director of global sports marketing for basketball at Adidas, secretly funneled cash to the families of high school recruits and disguised those payments in the company's books, according to Kim, who would not name the company. In a statement, Adidas said it had become aware on Tuesday that federal investigators arrested an employee, and that the company is learning more about the situation. "We're unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more," an Adidas official said. As part of the investigations, undercover agents and wiretaps were used. Kim quoted coach Bland telling managers and advisers he can "definitely mold players and put them in the lap of you guys," and Merl Code, a business affiliate of Adidas and its high school and college basketball programs, according to the court documents, saying "it's on the books, but it's not on the books for what it's actually for." The different schools are the main victims of this scheme, Kim said. Coach Person, who also played and coached in the NBA, is employed by Auburn University, which stated it was "saddened, angry and disappointed" and has suspended Person without pay effective immediately. The University of Arizona had also immediately suspended assistant coach Richardson, and stated it is "appalled to learn of the allegations as they do not reflect the standards we hold ourselves to and require from our colleagues." The school's planned men's basketball media day, previously scheduled for Wednesday, has been postponed. Oklahoma State University, employer of coach Evans, and University of Southern California, where coach Bland works, expressed their shock and surprise at the allegations. Both universities said they hold their athletic programs to high standards and pledged to cooperate with the investigation. The University of Louisville has also confirmed it received notice of being included in the federal investigation. It is one of 94 Adidas NCAA schools listed on the company's website NCAA President Mark Emmert issued a statement suggesting a "despicable breach" of trust by the implicated coaches. "The nature of the charges brought by the federal government are deeply disturbing. We have no tolerance whatsoever for this alleged behavior," he said. CNN's Kristina Sgueglia, Janet DiGiacomo, Danielle Wiener-Bronner, Chris Liakos, David Close and Tina Burnside contributed to this report.
The office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announces that 10 individuals, including assistant coaches at four NCAA Division I men's basketball programs—Arizona, Auburn, Oklahoma State, and USC—have been arrested on federal corruption charges. The accused are alleged to be part of a scheme by which coaches accepted bribes to steer NBA-bound college players toward certain agents and financial advisers. Court documents also allege that an apparel company later identified as Adidas paid $100,000 to the family of an unnamed player to ensure his signing with an unnamed Division I school, which was later confirmed as the University of Louisville.