On Tuesday morning, news broke that the FBI was investigating several schools, coaches, and an apparel company for corruption/bribery in college basketball recruiting. Here’s the news hit from SBNation dot com:
The FBI is investigating and charging college basketball coaches for bribing players https://t.co/pP6TB88YXt
— SB Nation CBB (@SBNationCBB) September 26, 2017
As detailed in the piece from Dot Com, while not named, Miami was basically named in the filing, which can be found on the Department of Justice’s website. And I quote:
In a complaint released on the Department of Justice’s website, enrollment numbers attached to schools only marked as “University-6” and “University-7” point to Louisville and Miami
Furthermore, here is the description of “University-7” from the released complaint:
As stated, if you cross-reference the enrollment numbers, the fact that it’s a private research university, is one of the state’s largest universities, and the university in question fields NCAA Division 1 athletics, and that is saying University-7 is Miami without actually naming Miami.
UPDATE: On Tuesday afternoon, University of Miami Athletic Director Blake James released the following statement regarding this investigation:
“The University of Miami is aware of the indictments handed down today by the Department of Justice involving several men’s basketball programs, coaches, financial advisors, agents, and apparel executives. As we are just learning the details, we cannot comment on the actions taken today by federal authorities. However, if requested, we will cooperate in any NCAA or legal review of the matter.”
This is a standard statement, and makes sense given the evolving nature of the situation.
Obviously there will be more that comes out over the next hours and days regarding this investigation, and Miami’s potential involvement therein.
The Department of Justice will hold a press conference at noon ET, which will be livestreamed on Facebook. We’ll update this post as more information comes in.