https://sports.yahoo.com/just-ignore-it ... 18802.html
The exhibits are full of behavior that looks similar to the what has Adidas’ James Gatto and Merl Code facing federal prison time. Why no one from Nike has been charged also remains unknown.
“These emails raise real questions whether all of the individuals that may have violated federal law have been held accountable,” said Stephen L. Hill, the former United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri who prosecuted the somewhat similar Myron Piggie case in the early 2000s.
“On these documents’ surface, they raise similar questions that need to be answered if you are committed to holding everyone accountable for this type of conduct,” Hill continued. “Failure to do so raises the questions whether or not you’re committed to fully and completely addressing the situation.”
The Feds, much like Nike, haven’t addressed the situation publicly either.
Throughout college basketball there is bafflement how people have kept their jobs. “I don’t get it,” said one Final Four head coach, who, because he is sponsored by Nike, sought anonymity.
Of course, that’s part of the problem, too. Plenty of college coaches have long suspected Nike of being a puppet master, stocking a few preferred schools with top talent in an effort to create corporate-branded powerhouses that can rule March Madness. Same for Adidas and Under Armour.
Yet almost everyone in college athletics is either taking money from Nike, one day wants to work at a school that takes money from Nike or fears the backlash of speaking out.
Money buys silence.
Kansas, after all, famously cried it was a victim of its shoe-partner, Adidas, when it was revealed Adidas helped them try to land top prospects. Then it immediately turned around and signed a new, long-term deal with Adidas because it needs that Adidas money and, if it was honest, the help with recruits, too.
If the corruption is everywhere, then it’s nowhere.
[...]
Maybe that’s Nike’s plan here. Hope the feds have stopped caring and tell everyone else to go pound sand.
How it runs its youth basketball division was spelled out clearly. It hasn’t lobbied to have amateurism rules altered. And it hasn't apparently changed a thing.
It’s difficult to imagine anyone could think it’s good for players, families or the game, yet who is going to do anything about it?
The college coaches? The schools? The NCAA? The FBI? The Southern District of New York?
So far, no one. So far, it’s still business as usual in the business of college basketball.
