Adidas filed a counter lawsuit against former five-star recruit Brian Bowen II’s father, shown above, a former grassroots consultant, and a financial advisor. The suit charges the three worked with Adidas employees to funnel money to the families of high school basketball prospects while evading detection by others in the company.
The lawsuit says Brian Bowen Sr., the father of former Louisville men’s basketball signee Brian Bowen II, former Adidas associate T.J. Gassnola and financial adviser Munish Sood, schemed to misappropriate Adidas funds, “including the misuse of Adidas’s money to steer Bowen Jr. to (Louisville),” according to the Courier Journal.
Adidas accused the three of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by committing wire fraud, conspiracy, and fraud, and the shoe company is asking for damages, forfeiture, attorney’s fees, and court costs.
The counter-claims represent Adidas’ answer to an amended complaint by Bowen II, who alleges Adidas and others derailed his career by causing the NCAA to rule him ineligible.
“Throughout Brian Bowen Jr.’s high school career, his father, Brian Bowen Sr., solicited and accepted money in return for promising that his son would play basketball for specific schools and programs,” Adidas attorneys wrote in a filing in U.S. District Court in South Carolina last month, according to ESPN. “In each instance that Bowen Sr. took money for his son’s services, Bowen Jr., in fact, played or committed to play for a particular team.
“Some of the funds Bowen Sr. received were misappropriated from Adidas America, Inc. (“Adidas”) as part of a larger scheme. In this scheme, former Adidas employees and other individuals misappropriated funds to pay families of high school athletes, like Bowen Jr., in exchange for those athletes committing to play for certain schools and programs. The participants in this scheme did not act on behalf of Adidas or for its interests. To the contrary, the participants worked together to submit, and cause to be submitted, fraudulent invoices to obtain funds from Adidas.”
Bowen II committed to Louisville in the summer of 2017 but never played after the FBI arrested 10 people around the country that September for their alleged role in college basketball recruiting corruption. Bowen was suspended and later transferred to South Carolina, where he was ruled ineligible. He played overseas before signing a deal in the 2019-20 season with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
Photo courtesy AP
