MINNEAPOLIS — Th💮e NCAA has yet to move much on the FBI’s investigation into corruption within college basketball, and there is a reason for that.
“We still don🍸’t have all the information that we would like to have from those trials,” presജident Mark Emmert said Thursday in his annual Final Four press conference.
Emmert said the NCAA is petitioning the Southern District of New York to provide it with all t🌃he findings that come out in the hearings. In early March, former Adidas executive James Gatto was sentenced to nine months in prison, and former Adidas consultant Merl Code and former runner Christian Dawkins were given 🐼six months each after being found guilty of charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud itself.
Former assistant coaches LaMont Evans (Oklahoma State), Emmanuel “Book” Richardson (Arizona) and Tony Bland (USC) have pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy bribery charge, and the trial for Chuck Person (Auburn) is scheduled for June.
“We have to ask for permission to get [evidence],” Emmert said. “We need the court to grant that permission, and then we could i🏅mport them under our new rules into the process. … So we petitioned, and we’re going to continue to argue aggressively that th🦄ey should provide that information so we can get to the facts, since there’s so much interest, not just on our part, but across the country and knowing what really transpired there.”
The Big Ten was arguably ♍the best conference in the country this year. It sent eight teams into the NCAA Tournament, and now it is hoping it can snap iꦛts national championship drought. Michigan State, the second seed from the East Region, is looking to get it done. The last Big Ten team to win the Tournament was Michigan State in 2000. Seven Big Ten teams have reached the title game since, but all have lost.
“If we could carry the mantle for our league and end that drought, I’d be double-excited, one for Michigan State and one 🍸for the ⛦Big Ten,” coach Tom Izzo said.
Former Michigan State and 🍸current Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins will be in attendance on Saturday, and he may speak to the Spartans on Friday, according to Izzo. Cous𒊎ins was at the East Region in Washington last weekend to root on his alma mater. … Texas Tech’s Chris Beard was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year.
Virginia sophomore De’Andre Hunter grew up following the Knicks and Syracuse. “I was a fan of Carmelo Anthony,” the projected lottery pick from Philadelphia said. “He posted up a lot. He was like a 6-8 guy, big body and h📖e used a lot of jab fakes and pump fakes and things like that. So when I was younger, I just went to the park and stuff and I just worked on those jab steps and fade🐎aways.”
— Additional reporting by Steve Serby.