NCAA coaches, Adidas exec among 10 charged in corruption scheme

Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person, Arizona assistant Emanuel Richardson, USC assistant Tony Bland, and Oklahoma State associate head coach Lamont Evans have been charged in a corruption scheme.

Federal charges have been brought against 10 people, including managers, financial advisors, and representatives of a major international sportswear company.

James Gatto, the director of global sports marketing for Adidas, was among those arrested, according to the Associated Press.

The FBI has been investigating the criminal influence of money on players and coaches since 2015, according to court documents, per Winter.

The investigation concluded there were numerous occasions when advisors bribed assistant coaches to employ influence over student-athletes to sign with those agents upon turning pro, according to the Associated Press. Coaches reportedly received thousands of dollars in bribes so agents could later receive a portion of the athletes' salaries when they eventually reached the NBA.

Sportswear company representatives also paid students and their families to commit to Adidas-sponsored schools and sign with the company when they turned pro.

"The investigation has revealed several instances in which coaches have exercised that influence by steering players and their families to retain particular advisers, not because of the merits of those advisers, but because the coaches were being bribed by the advisers to do so," the documents stated, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. Attorney Joon Kim stated in a press conference that the investigation is ongoing and the NCAA was aware of the investigation as of Tuesday morning.