[excerpt] Code, who worked for 14 years at industry leader Nike before moving to Adidas, said his former employer was in the business of brokering deals between basketball programs and recruits. “Nike schools pay too,” Code said in a conversation recorded by federal investigators on June 20, 2017. In the same conversation, Code names several of the most prominent programs in the country that are outfitted by Nike.
“It’s a corrupt space as it is and cheating is cheating,” Code is quoted as saying in the transcript. “Whether I give you a dollar, 100,000, or I get your mom and dad jobs, it’s cheating. … So in some form or fashion, Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, Kentucky and all of the schools are doing something to help get kids. That’s just a part of the space.”
South Carolina-based attorney Andrew Mathias, part of Code’s defense team, declined comment on behalf of his client Friday.
The defense team also submitted an August 2017 text conversation between Kansas coach Bill Self and former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola, a cooperating witness for the government who was described in court as an Adidas “bag man” and admitted to making multiple payments to help secure players for schools outfitted by the company. In that text exchange, the two discussed making Kansas the top recruiting priority at Adidas.
“In my mind it’s KU Bill Self,” Gassnola texted. “Everyone else falls into line, to [expletive] bad, that’s what’s right for adidas Basketball. And I know Iam RIGHT. The more you win, have lottery picks. And you happy. That’s how it should work in my mind.”
Self responded: “That’s how ur works. At unc and Duke.”
“Kentucky as well,” Gassnola replied.
