UNC, Duke, NC State say they have not been contacted by NCAA or FBI about college scandal

Spokesmen for N.C. State, North Carolina and Duke said this week none of their schools has been contacted by federal authorities or the NCAA related to the federal investigation into fraud and corruption in college basketball.

The three schools had recruited high-profile basketball players whose names have been reported by media outlets in conjunction with the federal charges and indictments announced Tuesday against 10 people.

Duke spokesman Jon Jackson, asked Thursday about contact with federal authorities or the NCAA, said, “This does not involve Duke.”

NCSU spokesman Fred Demarest said there had been no contact between anyone at NCSU with federal investigators or the NCAA. Robbi Pickeral Evans, associate athletic director at UNC, said Friday the school has “not been contacted by the FBI or the NCAA related to the investigation.”

N.C. State, under former basketball coach Mark Gottfried, recruited Brian Bowen. After Gottfried was fired last season, Bowen no longer showed interest in NCSU and signed with Louisville late in the process.

Bowen was not named in the federal indictments against college coaches, agents, financial advisers and apparel company representatives. The FBI alleges a player, reported to be Bowen, and his family were offered a six-figure bribe by adidas to go to Louisville, which has an adidas contract.

Duke and UNC have recruited and made scholarship offers to Nassir Little, a Class of 2018 6-7, 205-pound forward from Orlando, Fla.

Little also was not named in the federal indictments but the coach of his adidas-sponsored AAU team, 1 Family, has been accused of bribing a player, reported to be Little, to attend Miami, another school with an adidas contract. 1 Family has denied Little’s involvement.

This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 4:08 PM with the headline "UNC, Duke, NC State say they have not been contacted by NCAA or FBI about college scandal."