Video is playing a major role as prosecutors ramp up their case against already convicted middle man Christian Dawkins and former Adidas consultant Merl Code in the federal college basketball corruption case in New York City.
The prosecution on Day 3 showed the jury damaging video of cash being exchanged in a posh Las Vegas hotel room where college coaches cycled in and out and the tale of $11,000 stuff into a shoe and sent to a student athlete were among the evidence presented to the jury.
Jurors watched a granny video as coach after coach settled down on a couch in July 2017 and wads of cash were exchanged outright—or money was spoken of as a future possibility—to secure influence with the coaches’ top players.
The undercover video recordings also revealed interesting highlights, including a discussion that Clemson assistant coach Steve Smith said he had with the stepfather of Zion Williamson, in which they talked about the struggle to compete with schools like UNC, Kentucky and Duke, where Williamson eventually signed.
Government witness Marty Blazer said in the video that those schools ‘have people in place who will be able to pay for whatever is necessary’’ to help recruit Williamson. Blazer also testified about going to a store in Vegas to buy a pair of shoes—with money from an undercover FBI agent—into which Blazer said aspiring Dawkins would stuff $11,000 and FedEx to then Texas A & M player Robert Williams, who Blazer claimed Dawkins had been paying. Willliams is now a rookie with the NBA Boston Celtics.
Smith later said he told the stepfather that if Williamson goes to Duke or UNC, the stepdad is out of the play.’’
Smith later said that he told the stepdad that if Williamson goes to Duke or North Carolina, the stepdad is “out of the play.”
Smith had been invited to the hotel room for a meeting with Blazer and Dawkins—and attended by an FBI agent posing as an investor. Blazer testified if Smith felt he was close to securing Williamson, Dawkins would help out with any financial assistance. And he said if Williamson went elsewhere, the step father wouldn’t get a cut, Clemson issued a statement that it was aware of the situation and monitoring it.
Smith was not among the coaches who took money that day, Blazer said. However, video played for the jury showed three others accepting deals—including assistant coaches Corey Baker of TCU, Tony Bland of USC and Creighton’s Preston Murphy. Murphy has since been placed on administrative leave and Baker, who was fired, have not been charged with a crime. Bland and three other college coaches—Book Richardson of Arizona, Lamont Evans of South Carolina and Oklahoma State and Chuck Person of Auburn – were indicted and charged. Among other assistant coaches Blazer said he, Dawkins and the undercover FBI agent met with in Vegas were Yasir Rosemond of Alabama, Anthony Coleman of Arizona State, Amir-Abdur-Rahim of Texas A & M and now Kennesaw State head coach) and Raphael Chillious of Connecticut. Blazer said Dawkins didn’t pay any of those coaches because they didn’t have good enough players at the time but told some there were resources available if the situation changed.
These videos should be material that perks the interest of NCAA compliance, which is under pressure to clean up the sport. But no one from that organization was in attendance
Defense attorneys began their cross examination of Blazer at the end of the day Thursday bringing up his history of lying in connection with his troubled past as a financial advisor when he was convicted of siphoning $2.35 million from the accounts of several professional athletes.
