We’ve had this discussion before. I also believe the charges were grandstanding, as @JayHawkFanToo said. My opinion still remains that the charges here are shaky at best, that is, if the goal is convicting someone. Now, trying to get someone to cave, and implicate others, whether true or untrue, that’s all part of the prosecutor’s playbook. It is very difficult to prove a conspiracy to entangle those above those currently indicted, trying to prove knowledge of the alleged fraud (either by direct knowledge or otherwise).
Further, as I’ve said before, the allegations are really tenuous – here’s the claimed basis for the fraud, straight from the complaint:
The scheme described herein served to defraud the relevant universities in several ways. First, by virtue of accepting and concealing payments that, if uncovered, would render them ineligible to participate in Division I basketball, the student-athletes and/or their family members conspired with coaches and apparel company executives to obtain athletic-based financial aid for the student-athletes from NCAA Division I universities through false and fraudulent means. Indeed, for the scheme to succeed and the athletic scholarships to be awarded such that the athletes could play at a NCAA Division I university, the student-athletes and coaches described herein must falsely certify to the universities that they are unaware
of any rules violations, including the illegal payments. Second, the scheme participants further defrauded the universities, or attempted to do so, by depriving the universities of significant and necessary information regarding the non-compliance with NCAA rules by the relevant student-athletes and coaches. In doing so, the scheme participants interfered with the universities’ ability to control their assets and created a risk of tangible economic harm to the universities, including, among other things, decision-making about the distribution of their limited athletic scholarships; the possible disgorgement of certain profit-sharing by the NCAA; monetary fines; restrictions on athlete recruitment and the distribution of athletic scholarships; and the potential ineligibility of the university’s basketball team to compete in NCAA programs generally, and the ineligibility of certain student-athletes in particular.
