Duke’s AD says ‘there are no eligibility issues’ for Wendell Carter

There are no NCAA eligibility related issues related to Duke freshman Wendell Carter Jr., Duke athletic director Kevin White said Friday afternoon in a statement.

Carter is among a number of players listed in a Yahoo! Sports report as allegedly having had a meal or a meeting with Christian Dawkins, an ASM sports agent and one of 10 people arrested in September as part of the FBI’s investigation into bribes used to steer high school basketball players to certain schools.

A photo of Dawkins’ expense report published with the Yahoo! report lists a lunch Dawkins allegedly had with Carter’s mom at Longhorn in February 2016, when Carter was a junior in high school. It’s unclear from the expense report whether or not Carter’s mom, Kylia Carter, paid for her own meal or Dawkins did. The meal on the expense report was $106.36.

“A Duke student-athlete was identified in a Yahoo! Sports report this morning about men’s college basketball. Duke immediately reviewed the matter and, based on the available information, determined there are no eligibility issues related to today’s report,” White said in a statement. “Duke has already contacted the NCAA and will continue to work collaboratively with the NCAA and the Atlantic Coast Conference. Duke has an uncompromising commitment to compliance in athletics. That has not, and will not, change.”

According to the NCAA Bylaw 16.01.1.1, if the value of the benefit is $100 or less, “the eligibility of the student-athlete shall not be affected conditioned upon the student-athlete repaying the value of the benefit to a charity of his or her choice. The student-athlete, however, shall remain ineligible from the time the institution has knowledge of receipt of the impermissible benefit until the student-athlete repays the benefit.”

Carter has been one of Duke’s best players this season. He has played in all 28 of Duke’s games this season. He is averaging 14.5 points per game, 9.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.

There were nine other players, including former UNC forward Tony Bradley, were listed in the Yahoo! report as having had a meal or meeting with Dawkins.

Other players named in Yahoo’s report, including former N.C. State guard Dennis Smith Jr., are alleged to have received thousands of dollars in payments and loans.

Federal documents released in September allege that Dawkins and others paid recruits money to steer athletes to certain adidas-sponsored schools. Duke is a Nike school.

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Duke’s AD says ‘there are no eligibility issues’ for Wendell Carter."