NCAA pushes back at NC State, Mark Gottfried in its response
N.C. State pushed the NCAA in the university’s response to the Notice of Allegations. So did former Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried.
In its response, the NCAA has pushed back, specifically about an alleged $40,000 payment from T.J. Gassnola, a former Adidas consultant, to the family of former N.C. State star point guard Dennis Smith Jr.
The NCAA outlined a cluster of communication between Gassnola, former N.C. State assistant basketball coach Orlando Early and Shawn Farmer, a middle man for the sneaker company and the Smith family, during Smith’s recruitment in its response to N.C. State and Gottfried.
N.C. State released the NCAA’s 48-page response on Monday. The next step in the case is for a hearing with the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions to be scheduled. There is no timetable for the hearing.
There are four violations in the Notice of Allegations the NCAA sent N.C. State in July. The most damaging, the two Level I charges, are tied to an alleged payment to Smith during the recruiting process in 2015.
Gassnola, who worked as a grassroots coach out of Massachusetts, testified in the federal fraud trial of former Adidas executive Jim Gatto, that he flew to North Carolina and delivered a $40,000 payment to Early. Gatto was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court in New York last spring. His case was part of the FBI’s investigation into pay-to-play schemes in college basketball.
Gassnola pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud before the trial and received a lenient sentencing in exchange for his cooperation as a government witness. Gassnola testified that Early was supposed to give the money to Farmer, who had worked as a trainer for Smith, and that Farmer was to give the money to Smith’s family.
Smith, who left N.C. State after the 2016-17 season for the NBA, has since denied that he, or anyone in his family, received the payment. Early has not cooperated with the NCAA or made any public comments about the case.
Key in the NCAA’s response, which was prepared by its enforcement staff, is how it viewed Early’s role, the source of Gassnola’s money and how that differed from the interpretation by N.C. State and Gottfried, who filed separate responses to the NCAA in December.
Orlando Early’s involvement
In N.C. State’s 66-page response to the NCAA, prepared by NCAA case-specialists from the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, the school questioned the proof of the delivery of the payment to Smith and the source of the money.
Gassnola testified that he delivered the money to Early and there are bank receipts to match Gassnola’s withdrawal but there’s no corresponding evidence that Smith received the money.
In its response, the NCAA countered that the delivery of the money is not instrumental to the case.
“Early’s arrangement of the $40,000 impermissible inducement violated Bylaw 13.2.1 even if the money was never provided to Farmer or the Smith family ...,” the NCAA wrote in its response.
Bylaw 13.2.1 is the basic tenet to the NCAA’s amateur policy. Early was Gottfried’s top recruiter for six seasons between 2011 and ‘17. Early was the primary contact in Smith’s recruitment. When Gottfried was fired before the end of the 2016-17 season, Early was in the final year of his contract. He has been working as a scout for the Memphis Grizzlies since he left N.C. State.
The NCAA considers Early’s lack of cooperation as an admission of guilt and he is facing a “show-cause” penalty from the NCAA, which is its most punitive for coaches.
The NCAA also turned the “no proof” argument against N.C. State.
“There is no evidence that Early kept the money or provided it to someone not associated with Smith,” the NCAA wrote in its response.
Gottfried’s attorneys made a similar logical argument in their response. They argued that if the payment to Smith can’t be proved, then Gottfried, who’s now the head coach at Cal State Northridge, can’t be charged with a “failure to monitor” an event that didn’t happen.
In its response, the NCAA wrote that the hearing panel can “base its decision on information that circumstantially supports the alleged violation.” In other words, the phone records are corroborative of Gassnola’s testimony.
Benefit vs. inducement
The other argument N.C. State made, about the source of the money for the payment, was not acknowledged in depth by the NCAA’s enforcement.
Gassnola testified that the source of the money for the payment was Martin Fox, a middle man for agents and financial advisors, and not Adidas.
Fox has a a connection to agent Andy Miller and legal issues with the FBI. Since he was the source of the money, N.C. State argued that the NCAA should change how the violation is classified.
In the NCAA bylaws, there is a difference between a “impermissible benefit” and a “recruiting inducement.” There are different levels of punishment for each.
An example of an “impermissible benefit” is when a third-party, an agent (like Miller) or financial advisor (like Fox), pays a player before or during college in the hopes of signing that player once they make the NBA.
A “recruiting inducement” cuts to the heart of the NCAA’s amateur policy and is viewed as the most serious of pay-for-play offenses. An example would be if a booster or coach or anyone affiliated with the school pays a recruit specifically to come to the school.
The NCAA disagreed and was careful to use the word “inducement” in all references to Gassnola’s payment (which makes it a Level I violation).
In its response, the NCAA pointed out that: “Whether Adidas or Gassnola are considered boosters or where the money came from is irrelevant for determining that the conduct was a recruiting inducement. Nonetheless, both Adidas and Gassnola meet the definition of representative of athletics interests.”
The NCAA noted that the sneaker company provided $425,000 in financial contributions and $1.3 million worth of merchandise annually during the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years. N.C. State’s current contract with Adidas, which is worth significantly more, was finalized around the same time Smith made his commitment.
In a statement released by the school on Monday, N.C. State chancellor Randy Woodson said “... we will vigorously defend the university where necessary.”
The point about the source of the money figures to be a contentious one with the hearing panel.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 3:43 PM.
