Agent's detailed records show exactly how much players' families were paid, report says

Some detailed bookkeeping may make following the money to college basketball coaches, players and agents all too easy for federal prosecutors.

Documents seized from sports agent Andy Miller's office have given the government a deeply detailed — and potentially damning — look at how the schemes described in the FBI investigation ensnaring the University of Louisville worked, according to a report from Yahoo Sports.

Among those documents are intricate records of payments made to the families of college basketball players, according to Yahoo Sports' unnamed sources with close knowledge of the ongoing federal investigation.

“There are spreadsheets detailing who got paid, how much they got paid and how much more they were planning to pay,” a source told Yahoo Sports. “The feds got everything they wanted and much more. Don’t think it will only be players who ended up signing with ASM (Sports firm) that got paid. Those spreadsheets cast a wide net throughout college basketball. If your school produced a first-round pick in the past three years, be worried.”

Miller has not been arrested or charged; however, he did relinquish his status as a certified NBA agent after the September raid.

Read this:How much money have these basketball scandals cost Louisville?

More:ESPN: Charges against AAU director dropped because he kept bribe money meant for a player

Christian Dawkins, a sports agents who figures prominently throughout the FBI's investigation into corruption in college basketball, is a former employee of Miller's high-profile ASM Sports firm. Dawkins allegedly helped craft and execute schemes to bribe college basketball coaches, players and players' families to hire him as an adviser, and in some cases, for the athlete to sign with a particular college and with Adidas when they turned pro. 

Dawkins left or was fired from ASM Sports in May with his time there overlapping some of the FBI's accusations linking him to coaches and players at Arizona, South Carolina and Oklahoma State. The same month he left ASM Sports, the FBI complaint begins linking Dawkins to schemes involving Louisville and Southern California, and by August that included discussions about potential payments to a Miami recruit. 

If Dawkins followed the pattern described by Yahoo Sports' sources, he may have left a quite a paper trail.

At one point, Dawkins told an undercover FBI agent about his business plan, which allegedly included signing deals with players' relatives, who in turn would influence the athletes to sign with Dawkins or his company when they turned pro. 

"I want us protected as possible across the board," Dawkins reportedly said while being recorded. "... Obviously, we have to put funding out, and obviously, some of it can't be completely accounted for on paper because some of it is, whatever you want to call it, illegal."

The latest:Rick Pitino hopes Louisville 'will not give up its fight' to keep 2013 title

More:Attorneys: Toss phone evidence from Adidas executive who spoke to Rick Pitino

In June, Dawkins formed a sports management firm with Munish Sood and an undercover FBI agent posing as a financial backer, according to the FBI complaint. Sood, a financial adviser, was arrested along with Dawkins and eight others in September.

Of those arrested, only Adidas consultant Merl Code and former AAU program director Jonathan Brad Augustine were not indicted. Federal prosecutors dropped charges against Augustine earlier this month and Code's case was extended until March as he may be working on a plea deal.

Others charged and indicted include former college basketball coaches Lamont Evans, Emanuel "Book" Richardson, Tony Bland and Chuck Person, as well as Adidas executive James Gatto and clothing company founder and former NBA referee Rashan Michel.

Evans, while an assistant and South Carolina and later as associate head coach at Oklahoma State, allegedly solicited and accepted at least $22,000 in bribes from Dawkins, Sood and an FBI witness posing as a financial adviser.

The FBI alleges some of that was to steer athletes from South Carolina and Oklahoma State to the advisers and some was requested as payments to steer recruits to Oklahoma State, but the FBI never offers evidence Evans directly paid recruits.

Through Evans, the advisers met with an Oklahoma State athlete and the mother of a South Carolina athlete, according to the FBI complaint. 

Richardson, a former Arizona assistant coach, allegedly accepted at least $20,000 in bribes to steer athletes to Dawkins, Sood and the FBI witness. Richardson kept some of that money for himself and paid some to an unnamed Arizona recruit, according to the FBI complaint.

Bland, a former Southern Cal assistant coach, is accused of taking at least $13,000 in bribes from Dawkins, Sood, the FBI witness and an undercover FBI agent posing as one of the witness' associates to steer athletes to them. Bland also is accused of connecting the advisers with a relative of one incoming Southern Cal athlete and a relative of an athlete already on the team. 

During those meetings, the men allegedly intended to bribe one player’s family member with $4,000 and the other player’s family member with $5,000 to make sure the athletes hired the advisers when they reached the NBA. 

Dawkins and Bland were connected through Code, who had allegedly told Dawkins he could introduce him and his partners to college coaches for $5,000 apiece.

Person, a former Auburn associate head coach, allegedly solicited and accepted bribes totaling roughly $91,500. He is accused of influencing two Auburn players and their families to hire the FBI witness posing as a financial adviser. Person also allegedly encouraged at least one of those Auburn players to do business with Michel’s clothing company. 

More:FBI wiretap links Michel to NBA scout who was an agent to ex-Louisville player

Read this:Louisville asked fired athletics employee to cooperate with investigations

Person told the FBI witness that he paid the mother of one player $11,000 of that money and the mother of another player $7,500 of that money to encourage them to hire him as a financial adviser, according to the FBI complaint, which also alleges the FBI witness paid the mother of one player an additional $1,000 during a meeting.

Michel, who introduced the FBI witness to Person, is accused of helping devise and execute the scheme. He also allegedly solicited and accepted more bribes to introduce the witness to other college coaches. 

Chris White: ccwhite@gannett.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/chrisw.