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More news dropped last night from the FBI's investigation into Adidas, and illegal payments made to college basketball players' families. This time around, the University of Kansas basketball program was the primary focus, as additional charges were levied against an Adidas executive.
Two Kansas players', along with one NC State player, are alleged to be involved, with the charges indicating their guardians received money in exchange for their attendance at the Adidas schools, and their agreement to enter a contract with Adidas upon getting to the NBA.
The indictments have not named the players, but they indicate they committed to Kansas in November of 2016 and August of 2017. The timeline would match Billy Preston and Silvio de Sousa's commitments.
It's unclear what kind of fallout to expect from the news. Multiple big name players from high achieving programs were named in March reports as taking money from agents, but the NCAA has yet to take any type of punitive action. One player, Miles Bridges of Michigan State, was even cleared to continue playing. Ditto DeAndre Ayton, who was the subject of an allegation that Arizona coach Sean Miller had been heard on an FBI wiretap agreeing to pay $100,000 for his commitment.
In these cases so far, the NCAA has had little to work with. The source material for these reports is FBI investigations, and the NCAA doesn't have access to their files. It's also worth mentioning that, while it's hard to believe this could happen without the coaching staff's involvement or awareness, there's no indication that anyone at KU was a party to the payment of players or their families. Any potential repercussions are likely still far down the road, and we can expect more reports, possibly involving Kansas, to continue to leak as reporters get more information from inside sources, and charges are added to the case.