TJ Gassnola Took The Stand Again Today .....And College Basketball Money Hit The Fan
So TJ Gassnola took the stand again today for testimony and woo, buddy did we get some more information. Let me tell you people were passing out money all willy nilly. So with that said, I’m going to try and separate this into players and schools alleged to be tied to this all since there are multiple tweets about all.
Kansas – Silvio De Sousa/Billy Preston
So Kansas is the most intriguing one to me here because of everything involved. You have Billy Preston receiving money, a car and a loophole where there was an intimate relationship to show that it was okay. That obviously didn’t work because Preston was forced to miss the entire season. Now, why I find Kansas so interesting is that Gassnola testified Self didn’t know about the payments, but they did meet to discuss recruits. Also the fact that De Sousa is still on the roster and you have to wonder what the hell happens with his eligibility right now. It is important that Gassnola said Self and company didn’t know though – that goes a long way with the NCAA.
Maryland – Silvio De Sousa
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Not a great few months for Maryland boosters, huh? Now, this is where Maryland can get in trouble as Sam points out. De Sousa’s guardian is also Bruno Fernando’s guardian. So where exactly did that $60,000 payment go and does it matter if it wasn’t for Bruno? Obviously you still have to prove that there was intent but you now have Maryland and an active player firmly involved in the trial.
Arizona – Deandre Ayton
So how about this? First, imagine being Larnelle. Just a friend of the Ayton’s and you get paid $15,000 because Deandre is so damn good at basketball. Now, outside of that. Adidas allegedly paid $15,000 for Ayton in order to land him. Instead he went to a Nike school, signed with Puma and played 1 Adidas event – Adidas Nationals. Now, the question is whether or not this will end up being anything for Arizona and if the money ever got to the Ayton’s.
Miami – Nassir Little
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Again, another school involved here with a player who didn’t end up at their school. This time it’s Nassir Little – who is currently a freshman at UNC. In this case though it was Gassnola trying to set up Little to Miami – an Adidas school. Now, similar to what I said about Kansas, we have a coach that knows who Gassnola is and everything like that. As Dan points out though, there’s no proof that there was a request of payment made by Larranaga. That’s the important part here. It will be up for later testimony or an NCAA investigation to find out what exactly he knew about the situation.
NC State – Dennis Smith Jr.
This seems to be the one constant. We’ve heard NC State and Dennis Smith tied into pretty much every testimony so far. This one though says the family of Dennis Smith Jr., received the payment. Not a family friend or guardian or anything like that, directly to the family. I would be surprised if we don’t see that NC State year vacated and Mark Gottfried handed some NCAA sanctions since he’s now the head coach at Cal State Northridge. Now, again, I’m just guessing at what the NCAA will do here since they can now use this information based on the new rule for their own sanctions.
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I know I shouldn’t laugh, but this quote about Tom Crean has me in tears.
So the trial will resume on Monday. We’re waiting to find out more about the timelines of payments still and really more importantly from an NCAA standpoint – did any of these coaches know more about what was going on. That’s going to be the key as this trial unfolds. Will we hear anything contradicting what Gassnola said already? For instance, this came out during the afternoon portion of the trial:
There are going to be a bunch of people still called to the stand. Again, just curious to see if anyone changes what Gassnola said. All in all this trial has left things still wide open in terms of the NCAA. We still don’t know exactly what programs knew, meaning they should stay clear in terms of serious sanctions. Again, just guessing here.