One of the interesting side stories to the college basketball scandal that’s being tried in court has been the accusations made by Michael Avenatti.
Avenatti, known to many as the attorney who represented Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Donald Trump, has accused Nike of behavior similar to what got Adidas executives in trouble with the law.
Avenatti accused Carlton DeBose, the director of Nike’s Elite Youth Basketball program, of bribing over 100 high school players to play for Nike-sponsored colleges.
1/3 – Carlton DeBose, a Nike executive, has bribed over 100 high school players over the last 4 years to play college basketball at colleges affiliated with Nike as opposed to other schools. He has used bogus invoices and countless coaches to further the scheme & deliver the $…
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2019
3/3 – If I am lying, @nike should issue a stmt immediately stating no such payments were ever made and calling me out. They won’t because they know it is 100% true and they covered-up for years.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 5, 2019
Avenatti was arrested on March 25 and charged by federal prosecutors for attempting to extort Nike. Avenatti allegedly was threatening to hold a press conference in which he would unveil improper activities between Nike and high school/college programs unless they paid him $25 million. He is still attempting to drum up interest in his information by sending these tweets.
Avenatti has also alleged that payments were made by Nike to former Arizona star Deandre Ayton, who ended up the No. 1 pick by the Phoenix Suns.
There is no doubt that Nike’s bag drop to D. Ayton’s mother was completed as directed by Nike executives. If my claims are bogus, why will Nike not come out and deny them? And if they are correct, why won’t they come clean with the NCAA/the public now as to ALL of the payments? pic.twitter.com/BOFl9UukeC
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 28, 2019
Ayton was at the center of a scandal involving Sean Miller.
