The blow back from the college basketball corruption trial has come back to burn Clemson assistant coach Steve Smith.
Smith, whose contract expired April 30, will not be retained by he program next season.
During the first week of the trial, Smith was seen in an undercover video meeting in a Las Vegas hotel room talking with agent-runner Christian Dawkins and former financial adviser turned government witness Marty Blazer and an undercover FBI agent posing as an investor in Dawkins’ fledging sports management agency.
In the video, Smith was recorded talking about his plans to recruit Zion Williamson, a South Carolina high school phenom who signed with Duke and is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. “I’m meeting with his step dad,’’ Smith said. “Me and his step dad are going to work it out.
“We’ll be able to make sure everything’s good for the parent and everything like that,’’ Dawkins told Smith.
Smith also mentioned his relationship with Merl Code, Dawkins’ co-defendant in the ongoing bribery case. Code is a former Clemson basketball player who chose not to take the stand in the trial .
“That’s why football is so successful,’’ Smith said in the video. “If you do it and use the resources at Clemson, you really can keep everything right.’’
