Aventti alleges Langford offered $20k by Nike

[TR32]

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27390195/avenatti-filing-nike-okd-payments-zion-more


No evidence that either Zion or Langford received payments, but evidence, according to the allegation, suggests the offers were being arranged by Nike.

Romeo played for an Adidas school.

 

[TR32]

"According to the motion, Stovall responded:

"Langford - 20 Zion - 35 plus [Unnamed minor player] - 15""

 

[Squonk too]

Hmm. It would be a sad day if IU ended up vacating last season and worse because of shoe company payments. I can't think of sadder outcomes (well, postseason ban, too).

 

[hoosierhat]

This was pre-college and IU is an Adidas school

 

[IUCrazy2]

This was pre-college and IU is an Adidas school

Yeah, but the Devil's advocate argument we always use can apply here to, if Nike was offering him that much, how much do you think Adidas paid to keep him.

 

[crazed_hoosier2]

Yeah, but the Devil's advocate argument we always use can apply here to, if Nike was offering him that much, how much do you think Adidas paid to keep him.

Now we’re engaging in supposition?

I don’t know what evidence Avenatti has on Nike. But let’s not forget (a) who he is, and (b) the circumstances in which this is happening.

He tried to extort a bunch of money from Nike.

 

[Aloha Hoosier]

Yeah, but the Devil's advocate argument we always use can apply here to, if Nike was offering him that much, how much do you think Adidas paid to keep him.

Nothing. The FBI investigation and arrests were public by then. The shoe company representatives would have to be total morons to continue doing that at the time Romeo committed to IU.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Now we’re engaging in supposition?

I don’t know what evidence Avenatti has on Nike. But let’s not forget (a) who he is, and (b) the circumstances in which this is happening.

He tried to extort a bunch of money from Nike.

Oh I know, but if this were getting released about a Kentucky player or a Purdue player, we probably would not be as dismissive. If anything, it invites the type of scrutiny that we do not need right now because anymore, I do not believe that any program is 100% clean, particularly when dealing with Romeo level talent. Adidas and Nike are all over those kids well before the schools have any say.

 

[Wiedersehen]

Nothing. The FBI investigation and arrests were public by then. The shoe company representatives would have to be total morons to continue doing that at the time Romeo committed to IU.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

Oh I know, but if this were getting released about a Kentucky player or a Purdue player, we probably would not be as dismissive. If anything, it invites the type of scrutiny that we do not need right now because anymore, I do not believe that any program is 100% clean, particularly when dealing with Romeo level talent. Adidas and Nike are all over those kids well before the schools have any say.

Why would IU fans be focused on a KY player being offered something but not taking it? Sounds like the right thing for the kid to do.

 

[birdforbogey]

IU is not very good at cheating.

 

[YOTHN]

Oh I know, but if this were getting released about a Kentucky player or a Purdue player, we probably would not be as dismissive. If anything, it invites the type of scrutiny that we do not need right now because anymore, I do not believe that any program is 100% clean, particularly when dealing with Romeo level talent. Adidas and Nike are all over those kids well before the schools have any say.

You do realize this news came out prior to last basketball season, right? Take a deep breath....

 

[IndyResident16]

IU is not very good at cheating.

Why would IU be involved with any cheating that has to do with Nike? IU is an Adidas school.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Why would IU fans be focused on a KY player being offered something but not taking it? Sounds like the right thing for the kid to do.

Romeo is not here anymore, so whatever. But you are not being honest with yourself if you are saying you would not have raised an eyebrow about this if it were another school that we viewed as a competitor. There were people who (rightfully IMO) questioned that if Adidas was on wiretap offering $100k for Zion Williamson, then what must Nike have paid to keep him in the fold. Well now we have text messages indicating at least one offer of $30k when he was in high school.

I think it is clear that A)the shoe companies are and have been funneling money to these kids or their handlers for quite some time and B)if you are doing regular recruiting in the Top 25 rated kids during that timeframe, you probably have had a slew of technically ineligible players all over your team.

In other words, if you find yourself recruiting against Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, UNC, Louisville, etc. quite a bit in the past 10 to 20 years and you were losing the majority of those battles, there is a decent percentage of those losses that could be at least partially attributed to a shoe company steering those guys away from your school and to one of the schools that they considered their "cool" flagship programs.

This stuff that is coming out know is just the tip of the fire that has been underneath all of that smoke that has been message board fodder for 2 decades. And I am willing to bet that we have had kids on campus who have cashed in as well.

 

[IUCrazy2]

Hmm. It would be a sad day if IU ended up vacating last season and worse because of shoe company payments. I can't think of sadder outcomes (well, postseason ban, too).

It won't happen but I would gladly vacate last season if it brought down Duke, UNC, Kentucky, and Kansas (and others) with it.

Now that will never happen because money, but I would make the trade.

 

[IndyResident16]

My thoughts

1. I'm going to take anything Avenatti says with face value as he's facing extortion and fraud charges that if convicted could potentially land him in prison for the rest of his life

2. It suggests that Nike "offered" Langford $20k. Offered doesn't mean accepted. I'd be willing to wage that most recruits in the top 10 or 20 of their class going back the last 20-25 years have been "offered" something by some sort of third party agency to attend a school. I've seen a post that suggests if Nike was offering $20k, "how much was Adidas offering for him to end up at an Adidas school?"

3. To end my thought on #2, there was just a 2 year investigation and trial that recently concluded that ended with convictions for multiple people involved with Adidas. There was hours of testimony and thousands and thousands of documents entered into the courts, none of which suggested Adidas was in a bidding war with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford. There were however, other individuals named. Nike very well may have "offered" Langford, it doesn't mean he took it.

As far as where IU stands in all of this? Why would IU (an Adidas school) being working with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford.

 

[IUCrazy2]

My thoughts

1. I'm going to take anything Avenatti says with face value as he's facing extortion and fraud charges that if convicted could potentially land him in prison for the rest of his life

2. It suggests that Nike "offered" Langford $20k. Offered doesn't mean accepted. I'd be willing to wage that most recruits in the top 10 or 20 of their class going back the last 20-25 years have been "offered" something by some sort of third party agency to attend a school. I've seen a post that suggests if Nike was offering $20k, "how much was Adidas offering for him to end up at an Adidas school?"

3. To end my thought on #2, there was just a 2 year investigation and trial that recently concluded that ended with convictions for multiple people involved with Adidas. There was hours of testimony and thousands and thousands of documents entered into the courts, none of which suggested Adidas was in a bidding war with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford. There were however, other individuals named. Nike very well may have "offered" Langford, it doesn't mean he took it.

As far as where IU stands in all of this? Why would IU (an Adidas school) being working with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford.

Adidas paid his Dad money to run an AAU program based around Romeo. Some of that money was undoubtedly spent on expenses related to running that team and some was kept as payment for being the owner. The NCAA has deemed that as "ok"...this is that grey area of recruiting that is completely legal until said point where a college coach directs the company to give money to X, Y, or Z.

But Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour are finding ways to funnel money to handlers and kids and that money buys influence as to where those kids will go. Adidas funded kids magically tend to end up at Adidas schools and Nike kids at Nike schools.

Romeo and Family may not have done anything "wrong" but having his name all over legal proceedings like this invites scrutiny...and I do not know if you have noticed but we do not have the same bulletproof vest or an administration willing to obfuscate as the other big name programs. If the NCAA comes knocking we will fold like a paper tent, it's what IU's admin does.

 

[IndyResident16]

Adidas paid his Dad money to run an AAU program based around Romeo. Some of that money was undoubtedly spent on expenses related to running that team and some was kept as payment for being the owner. The NCAA has deemed that as "ok"...this is that grey area of recruiting that is completely legal until said point where a college coach directs the company to give money to X, Y, or Z.

But Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour are finding ways to funnel money to handlers and kids and that money buys influence as to where those kids will go. Adidas funded kids magically tend to end up at Adidas schools and Nike kids at Nike schools.

Romeo and Family may not have done anything "wrong" but having his name all over legal proceedings like this invites scrutiny...and I do not know if you have noticed but we do not have the same bulletproof vest or an administration willing to obfuscate as the other big name programs. If the NCAA comes knocking we will fold like a paper tent, it's what IU's admin does.

But IU would have NEVER been involved with Nike. It's not like IU was behind Nike funnelling $20k to Romeo and family. The NCAA has already ruled that it's not against their rules to have a parent/guardian run a shoe-apparel sponsored AAU program. That is the only thing Tim Langford can be guilty of and that isn't against NCAA rules.

Now it can later be proven that the Langford's may have taken $20k cash from Nike, but it wouldn't have been under the direction of IU as IU would have no business dealing with Nike. Furthermore this all would have happened while Tom Crean was the head coach. Very worst case, Romeo's eligibility is retroactively suspended and IU has to forfeit games in which he played, but that isn't on IU. But it's not like IU (an Adidas school) was in a conspiracy with Nike to funnel money to Langford in family.

 

[IUgradman]

Hmm. It would be a sad day if IU ended up vacating last season and worse because of shoe company payments. I can't think of sadder outcomes (well, postseason ban, too).

The horror of vacating the wins from one of the most disappointing seasons in IU history.

 

[hoosier48]

Hmm. It would be a sad day if IU ended up vacating last season and worse because of shoe company payments. I can't think of sadder outcomes (well, postseason ban, too).

Would be terrible to vacate last year, look at all the trophy's/Banners we would have to return.

 

[hoosier48]

Also evidence that a UK assistant had full knowledge (Kentuckiana news this morning), but no UK players ever mentioned. Not sure what that meant.

 

[ufo33]

I am waiting for the WWW to Calipari talent funnel investigation. The NIKE, WWW, Dirty Cal, UK money trail. After multiple Final Four banners vacated, Cal has gotten much better at covering his trail.

 

[ufo33]

Also evidence that a UK assistant had full knowledge (Kentuckiana news this morning), but no UK players ever mentioned. Not sure what that meant.

Not enough info yet to name names, or still under investigation to release info.

 

[chaboom]

I am waiting for the WWW to Calipari talent funnel investigation. The NIKE, WWW, Dirty Cal, UK money trail. After multiple Final Four banners vacated, Cal has gotten much better at covering his trail.

The way the coaches found to cover their trails is by having their shoe company partners foot the bill and do the dirty work while they strive to maintain plausible deniability

 

[Hatchets7times]

How about who cares..

 

[MrBing]

Nothing. The FBI investigation and arrests were public by then. The shoe company representatives would have to be total morons to continue doing that at the time Romeo committed to IU.

That's true it wouldn't make sense for it to happen with Romeo to go to IU. No one would want to risk it after the FBI investigation became public.

 

[chaboom]

And as a side note, the only Nike school I recall receiving serious consideration from Romeo was Vanderbilt

 

[All4You]

My thoughts

1. I'm going to take anything Avenatti says with face value as he's facing extortion and fraud charges that if convicted could potentially land him in prison for the rest of his life

2. It suggests that Nike "offered" Langford $20k. Offered doesn't mean accepted. I'd be willing to wage that most recruits in the top 10 or 20 of their class going back the last 20-25 years have been "offered" something by some sort of third party agency to attend a school. I've seen a post that suggests if Nike was offering $20k, "how much was Adidas offering for him to end up at an Adidas school?"

3. To end my thought on #2, there was just a 2 year investigation and trial that recently concluded that ended with convictions for multiple people involved with Adidas. There was hours of testimony and thousands and thousands of documents entered into the courts, none of which suggested Adidas was in a bidding war with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford. There were however, other individuals named. Nike very well may have "offered" Langford, it doesn't mean he took it.

As far as where IU stands in all of this? Why would IU (an Adidas school) being working with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford.

Exactly. And there really isn't even proof the an "offer" was made, only that they were preparing one, and if they did Langford's family didn't accept it. And as you pointed out, there was a huge investigation and trial which included Adidas reps and no convictions or even charges surrounding Langford. And as IUCrazy@ points out before he puts on the tinfoil hat, there is an NCAA accepted practice to put $$$ in the hands of top recruits and/or their handlers, via the AAU team sponsorship route. No need for anyone associated with Langford to get their hands dirty, when there is an accepted and legal way of getting the money directly there.

Simply put, this is just Avenatti's poor attempt to obfuscate the facts (that he attempted to extort Nike as well as all of his other legal issues, including allegations of his cheating several of his former clients). A few years from now Romeo will still be in the league, Nike will still be Nike, IU will still have clean hands and Avenatti will likely be in the early stages of a long prison stint.

 

[PranksterMary]

But IU would have NEVER been involved with Nike. It's not like IU was behind Nike funnelling $20k to Romeo and family. The NCAA has already ruled that it's not against their rules to have a parent/guardian run a shoe-apparel sponsored AAU program. That is the only thing Tim Langford can be guilty of and that isn't against NCAA rules.

Now it can later be proven that the Langford's may have taken $20k cash from Nike, but it wouldn't have been under the direction of IU as IU would have no business dealing with Nike. Furthermore this all would have happened while Tom Crean was the head coach. Very worst case, Romeo's eligibility is retroactively suspended and IU has to forfeit games in which he played, but that isn't on IU. But it's not like IU (an Adidas school) was in a conspiracy with Nike to funnel money to Langford in family.

The concern is that someone else may have made a more lucrative offer. I wonder if another shoe company, one who competes directly with NIke and who has also been neck deep in this sort of thing, might be a suspect?

 

[Chicago-bound Hoosier]

Avenetti is a scumbag. Wouldn't be surprised if this guy ends up in the same cell they were holding Epstein.

 

[IndyResident16]

The concern is that someone else may have made a more lucrative offer. I wonder if another shoe company, one who competes directly with NIke and who has also been neck deep in this sort of thing, might be a suspect?

And if there was (Adidas) don't you think that would have been unravelled in a 2 year long investigation that included two different sets of trials? It's not a secret that Adidas sponsored an AAU program that Langford's dad ran, but there was ZERO evidence or testimony in any of the trials that mentioned Langford. You had reps from Adidas basically telling the jurors what and who they offered to show they were working in a conspiracy with Adidas sponsored-schools and not actually being de-frauded. And Langford's name didn't come out once.

 

[ufo33]

The way the coaches found to cover their trails is by having their shoe company partners foot the bill and do the dirty work while they strive to maintain plausible deniability

Like Rick Pitino

 

[BasketballFan1234]

I guess who cares? Even if we do have to give up wins from last season, it’s not like we won anything important. If Romeo took money from someone while in HS, I fail to see how IU is responsible for that. Now, if he was directed to take the money (or a company was directed to pay the money) at IU’s behest, thats different. However, I see no evidence of that with Romeo.

 

[gulcherboy]

https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/27390195/avenatti-filing-nike-okd-payments-zion-more


No evidence that either Zion or Langford received payments, but evidence, according to the allegation, suggests the offers were being arranged by Nike.

Romeo played for an Adidas school.

My reading of this is that Nike officials decided they were willing to pay Romeo and/or his family $20K but no one ever got around to making the offer to either him or his family.
That means the Langfords did nothing wrong. As of right now, there is no evidence that Adidas offered or paid anything to the Langfords.

 

[PranksterMary]

Avenetti is a scumbag. Wouldn't be surprised if this guy ends up in the same cell they were holding Epstein.

He’s desperately looking for a life raft. Slimy guy.

 

[chaboom]

Here's a Yahoo Sports story that is a little clearer about what the alleged offers where for - which was to get them to play in the Nike EYBL. I'm sure the Langfords were able to make more than $20k by running their own Adidas team and which was above board

https://sports.yahoo.com/new-avenat...zion-williamson-romeo-langford-012143278.html

 

[birdforbogey]

Is this what fpaugh has been talking about? He seems to have all the inside info for those of us that are way behind.

 

[Sope Creek]

My thoughts

1. I'm going to take anything Avenatti says with face value a grain of salt as he's facing extortion and fraud charges that if convicted could potentially land him in prison for the rest of his life

2. It suggests that Nike "offered" Langford $20k. Offered doesn't mean accepted. I'd be willing to wage that most recruits in the top 10 or 20 of their class going back the last 20-25 years have been "offered" something by some sort of third party agency to attend a school. I've seen a post that suggests if Nike was offering $20k, "how much was Adidas offering for him to end up at an Adidas school?"

3. To end my thought on #2, there was just a 2 year investigation and trial that recently concluded that ended with convictions for multiple people involved with Adidas. There was hours of testimony and thousands and thousands of documents entered into the courts, none of which suggested Adidas was in a bidding war with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford. There were however, other individuals named. Nike very well may have "offered" Langford, it doesn't mean he took it.

As far as where IU stands in all of this? Why would IU (an Adidas school) being working with Nike to secure a commitment for Romeo Langford.

FIFY

 

[chaboom]

I'm not too certain of the soundness of Avenatti's legal strategy here but hopefully he can manage to get this all cleared up in time to run for president

 

[fpeaugh]

But IU would have NEVER been involved with Nike. It's not like IU was behind Nike funnelling $20k to Romeo and family. The NCAA has already ruled that it's not against their rules to have a parent/guardian run a shoe-apparel sponsored AAU program. That is the only thing Tim Langford can be guilty of and that isn't against NCAA rules.

Now it can later be proven that the Langford's may have taken $20k cash from Nike, but it wouldn't have been under the direction of IU as IU would have no business dealing with Nike. Furthermore this all would have happened while Tom Crean was the head coach. Very worst case, Romeo's eligibility is retroactively suspended and IU has to forfeit games in which he played, but that isn't on IU. But it's not like IU (an Adidas school) was in a conspiracy with Nike to funnel money to Langford in family.

You wouldn’t be making the same excuses if this was UK or Duke or Kansas etc.