A law firm filed a federal suit on behalf of Brian Bowen, former Louisville and South Carolina basketball recruit, against Adidas, alleging “violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.”
The McLeod Law Group, out of Charleston, SC, also targets several defendants in the FBI corruption probe into pay-for-play college recruiting scandal. college basketball. They include James Gatto, Adidas’ former director of global sports marketing; former Adidas employee Merl Code; business manager Christian Dawkins; and Munish Sood, Thomas Gassnola and Christopher Rivers.
In the first of three scheduled federal trials pertaining to the college basketball corruption scandal, Gatto admitted to agreeing to send $100,000 to the family of the top 2017 recruit to exchange for Bowen enrolling at Louisville. Brian Bowen Sr., the recruit’s father, likewise acknowledged such payments but said under oath that he has never told his son about the money.
A release from the McLeod Law Group and Miami-based attorney Jason Setchen, stated, “Adidas spearheaded this criminal racketeering enterprise to coerce the families of top high school basketball players to attend colleges and universities under contract with Adidas to boost the corporate brand and increase profits in the ultra-competitive $25 billion athletic shoe market. Once student athletes, such as Brian, commit to an Adidas sponsored university, they are duty bound to wear Adidas gear and allow Adidas to market their image and likeness for corporate profit.
“Because of this criminal scheme and through no fault of their own, Brian and other student athletes lost their eligibility to play college basketball at any school, lost their eligibility to receive financial aid necessary to continue their education, and lost the singular opportunity to develop physically and athletically into NBA draft picks at an elite NCAA Division I basketball program.”
The statement added, “Adidas has thus far infiltrated college basketball with complete impunity. It is now time for them to answer for what they have done and to suffer the consequences of their corporate misconduct. Brian is an exceptional young man who is determined to right this wrong and to do his part to help free other student athletes from corporate corruption that has no place in college basketball.”
Beyond any damages, the lawsuit seeks to end Adidas’ sponsorship agreements with Division I men’s basketball teams.
Gatto, Dawkins and Code were all found guilty by a federal jury on October 24. Sood and Gassnola were both government cooperating witnesses in the case. Rivers, who is senior player relations manager- Adidas Basketball according to his LinedIn page, hasn’t been mentioned in the investigation so far.
Setchen represented Bowen last spring in an attempt to help the recruit join the University of South Carolina. Brian Bowen in August signed with a professional team in Australia after deeming that his involvement in the scandal made him ineligible to attend a school.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charleston, SC, can be read HERE.
