Some college basketball coaches are likely breathing a little bit easier after a U.S. District Court Judge denied a request by the NCAA seeking redacted and unreleased material that was part of a criminal pay-for-play scheme in college basketball.
ESPN reports that the ruling, issued Tuesday, denies the NCAA access to evidence and the un-redacted sentencing memo for former Adidas executive James Gatto, one of the three men convicted in the college basketball corruption scheme wherein prospective student-athletes were steered toward Adidas-sponsored programs.
In the ruling, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan wrote that, “[The] materials relate to potential rules violations of third-parties not on trial in this action, which might be regarded by certain segments of the public as scandalous conduct. Disclosure carries the risk of certain significant reputational and professional repercussions for those referenced in these documents.”
Federal prosecutors opposed allowing the NCAA to access the materials. A similar request for materials made by Oath, the parent company of Yahoo! Sports, was also denied.
Judge Lewis Kaplan has ruled in favor of federal prosecutors and denied NCAA access to evidence from the hoops corruption trial/FBI investigation. Once upon a time, the gov said the entire point of the operation was to expose such things. Some coaches breathing easy tonight.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) September 3, 2019
The NCAA reportedly is investigating a number of schools for alleged rule violations that are related to the criminal trials, but will now have to rely on FBI wiretaps and other materials entered into the public record during the course of the trial and any material turned up in its own investigations as those cases proceed. One school, NC State, has received an NCAA notice of allegations. Others believed to be targets include Arizona, Auburn, Creighton, Kansas, Louisville, LSU and USC.
