Calipari: Kentucky not tied with agent in college hoops corruption case


NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the corruption scandal in college basketball (all times local):

11:40 a.m.

Kentucky coach John Calipari says neither he nor his staff utilized Andy Miller or any other agent to provide financial benefits to student athletes, and the school says it will conduct an internal review and cooperate with authorities.

Current Wildcats freshman forward Kevin Knox and ex-players Nerlens Noel and Bam Adebayo are named in a Yahoo Sports report released Friday that says bank records and expense reports show a wide range of impermissible payments to players and their families from Miller and his agency.

Calipari said in a statement that he has “no relationship with Andy Miller or any of his associates” and will cooperate in the investigation.

University President Eli Capiluto says the school learned of the report Thursday night and “began immediately to conduct our due diligence” and will cooperate. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart added that Kentucky has not been contacted by the FBI or NCAA in the matter but has reached out to the governing body along with the Southeastern Conference.

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11:15 a.m.

North Carolina State athletic director Debbie Yow says the school in 2012 disassociated itself from a former NBA agent at the center of a federal probe into college basketball corruption.

According to a Yahoo Sports report Friday, players and family members allegedly received cash, entertainment and travel expenses from Andy Miller and his agency.

A balance sheet from December 2015 lists several payments under “Loan to Players,” including $43,500 to Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith, who played at N.C. State last season.

N.C. State had sent Miller and his businesses a 10-year disassociation letter, citing NCAA reports that indicate the agent worked closely with an AAU coach and saying that “creates a vulnerability” for the school “that we cannot tolerate.”

Yow says the school will fully cooperate with any investigations.

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10:20 a.m.

Bank records and other expense reports that are part of a federal probe into college basketball list a wide range of impermissible payments from agents to at least two dozen players or their relatives, according to documents obtained by Yahoo Sports.

Yahoo said Friday that the documents obtained in discovery during the investigation link current players including Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, Duke’s Wendell Carter and Alabama’s Collin Sexton to potential benefits that would be violations of NCAA rules. According to the report, players and family members allegedly received cash, entertainment and travel expenses from former NBA agent Andy Miller and his agency ASM Sports.

NCAA president Mark Emmert says in a statement Friday the allegations “if true, point to systematic failures that must be fixed and fixed now if we want college sports in America.”

A balance sheet from December 2015 lists several payments under “Loan to Players,” including $43,500 to Dallas Mavericks guard Dennis Smith, who played one season at North Carolina State in 2016-17.

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