Potentially damaging news was revealed that linked prized Duke freshman Zion Williamson to Kansas’s involvement in the college basketball fraud scandal. Kansas assistant Kurtis Townsend was caught on a wiretap expressing a willingness to provide money and other benefits in exchange for Williamson.
Following comes from Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports.
“Hey,” said Code, according to his attorney, Mark Moore. “Between me and you, you know, he asked about some stuff. You know?”
Who is “he?” Zion Williamson’s father, per Moore’s courtroom account.
“I know what he’s asking for,” Code continued. “He’s asking for opportunities from an occupational perspective, he’s asking for cash in the pocket and he’s asking for housing for him and his family.”
If this was to follow the basics that played out over the past 2½ weeks here as the underground economy of college athletics was laid bare in a federal fraud trial, that meant a job (lucrative with little to no work), a lot of cash (six figures, minimum) and an apartment or house (rent-free, of course). If you’ve seen Zion play, you’d know that isn’t a bad deal.
Which might be why Townsend sounded unfazed.
“I’ve got to just try to work and figure out a way because if that’s what it takes to get him here for 10 months, we’re going to have to do it some way,” Townsend said.
Williamson’s father reportedly suggested to Code that he wanted occupational opportunities, cash in the pocket and housing for his family.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan denied the admission of the conversation into evidence because it occurred just 12 days before Adidas consultant Merl Code was arrested in September 2017.
Before committing to Duke, Williamson had an official visit to Kansas in September of 2017 and Townsend was his lead recruiter along with head coach Bill Self, per 247Sports.
Wiretapped conversations between Code and LSU coach Will Wade were also denied admission in court. This was related to 2019 4 star recruit Balsa Koprivica
Kansas has taken center stage in the federal investigation, as the school’s recruitment of current forward Silvio de Sousa and former forward Billy Preston were questioned after witnesses outlined benefits that Code provided. This doesn’t prove Kansas offered any illegal benefits or that Duke engaged in any malicious activity.
But, this adds a new layer to the ever-evolving college basketball hoops scandal that is hanging over the NCAA and premier schools. Obviously, as more schools get added to the mix the NCAA will have a large mess to adjourn over that has never been seen. More info on former number one pick Markelle Fultz, Rick Pitino and Brian Bowen Jr. are also being revealed as the trial progresses.
