James Gatto, Merl Code, and Christian Dawkins were found guilty on all seven counts of conspiracy and wire fraud on Wednesday afternoon by a federal jury in New York.
Technically, this means that KU is a victim of fraud, and we all know that “technically correct” is the best kind of correct.
Obviously, the defense will appeal.
The University of Kansas, for its part, still doesn’t have much to say. Chancellor Douglas Girod and athletic director Jeff Long cosigned a statement released on Wednesday afternoon following the verdict which didn’t say much but had this nugget:
Two additional federal trials are set for February and April 2019. Thus, we remain unable to fully comment on the issues before us.
I found it interesting that in that same statement, Girod also noted:
Finally, while we have made no decision regarding a long-term contract extension with our apparel partner, adidas, we continue to evaluate our options. There is no timetable for a decision.
ESPN reports that the trials set for next spring are for former Auburn assistant Chuck Person and former NBA referee Rashan Michel in February 2019, with three former college basketball assistant coaches slated for April 2019 in Emmanuel Richardson (Arizona), Lamont Evans (Oklahoma State), and Tony Bland (USC).
I won’t pretend to know everything that happened during the trial or what the implications of this verdict are, because honestly, I personally haven’t been following it all that closely. For now, it seems as if KU has cleared a hurdle with the verdict of this trial.