I'm going to be as indirectly direct as I can possibly be in the next anecdote.
College basketball has been filthy for a long time. Universities have gotten rich, not just from sports revenue, but from the donations that they attract, from the greatly enhanced interest from students applying wanting to go to schools with successful sports programs. But we know all that.
The twist on Adidas being part of this is really not too big of a surprise. Years ago I worked two summers at the US Open Tennis tournament while a student at St. John's. It was really a paid vacation, taking 2 weeks off from my regular part time jobs to work as a security guard. By chance I got placed in the men's locker room on day 1, year 1, and simply by doing my job, kept out anyone who weren't players or proper press credentials - something that had never happened before. After 1 day, the supervisor, having heard some anecdotes of how well I managed things, told me that was my post for the rest of the tournament. The next year he spotted me and said, "You! Great! Men's locker room." It was awesome. All the regular workers who were college aged treated me really well, and I met a ton of players.
On the day before the finals I answered a call from a sneaker company who was trying to reach one of the men's finalists unsuccessfully. After about a 1/2 dozen calls, he said could you relay the message that we will pay him $25,000 if he wears our sneakers in the finals. Of course these were the days just before huge apparel contracts and incredible money in tennis. I relayed the message and the player laughed. No one wold risk in tennis wearing unfamililar shoes with all the running, and sharp starts and stops. But the point is that with milllions watching on TV, fans in tennis (and basketball) can readily identify players, and see all the brands that they wear. Today Nadal wears a watch to all matches that costs $850,000. Before he started wearing it, the watch sold for $525,000.
A few weeks ago, a colorful Big East coach who won a championship passed away. Some on here compared him to our own icon, Coach Carnesecca. In that period there was a highly touted recruit that both schools were after. At one of his games there were a slew of schools there to watch him who were actively recruiting him. The player tells a story that back at his hotel, he heard a knock on the door. He opened the door and saw a paper bag. He took it into his room and opening the bag, saw more money than he had seen in his life. HE started throwing the money in the air while laying on the bed and laughing, cried out "I'm rich, I'm rich!"
A St. John's assistant whose room was on the same floor happened by chance to see the money being placed at the door and who placed it. Instead of identifying himself, he called the player's room and said, "I am calling form the NCAA. We know you have just received a large sum of cash. I am going to give you a break though. Keep it and you will never play another college basketball game and will be subject to prosecution. I'd advise you to call whoever left it for you and return it immediately." His joy turned to total panic in minutes, he quickly called the assistant who left the money and told him he was leaving it outside his room because he didn't want it." The school who left the money? You figure it out. The player ultimately went to St. John's.
We wonder how schools that are located in remote small towns that are frozen from October through May manage to recruit the best players year in and year out. We wonder how a name coach to go to a school in a tailspin and quickly recruit 5 star talent to rebuild a program. We know X's and O's aren't exactly NFL playbooks. Players win games and coaches find the players.
If anyone thinks that this is isolated to the schools that will be charged, you are right and wrong. Adidas and other shoe companies want to help the schools who attract the biggest TV audience and media attention because when the best players are on the floor, the most people will see their products. It's a low cost publicity campaign, relatively speaking. Kids, especially poor kids, want to wear the same favorite players wear. A while back kids in inner cities were getting shot and robbed for their expensive sneakers. Stephon Marbury you may recall, sought to stop this by marketing his own brand of low cost shoes. It didn't quite work out for him going up against the Nike, Adidas, et all machines.
Can a D1 program win by being honest? Yes. Can they win at the highest levels? On occasion. Can they win at the highest levels consistently by being totally clean? Not very likely at all.
Why? Any 5 star player knows that he can make a $$ deal from schools that really want him and because of their success he really wants to play at. Why would a 5 star player come here for free when he can go to a higher profile program AND make money?
The system sucks. It's a lot like PED's. Professional teams looked the other way because 900 foot home runs made them a ton of money. Even now, MLB is jacking the baseballs now that PEDs are a no-no.
The system is rigged and corrupt, and if you think that the NCAA was unaware, you'd have to be crazy.
