CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Adidas was plotting to pay Nassir Little to attend Miami. Adidas was planning to pay Little's AAU coach. The story has been updated with the correct information about the potential payment. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error.
On Sept. 26, 2017, the college basketball world was shook to its core.
That day, the FBI made public its investigation into the illegal activities involving the recruitment of college basketball players by shoe companies and coaches, charging 10 men with corruption and fraud. Among those men were four assistant coaches and two employees of Adidas.
On Friday, the case took a turn as Outside the Lines received federal wiretap audio, text messages and hidden camera video concerning James Gatto, the former Adidas executive who is embroiled in the center of the scandal, discussing various illegal activities, including a potential payment for then-high school senior Nassir Little to attend Miami, an Adidas client. Little's family was unaware of the discussed payments and never were offered money by anyone.
Little, now a first-year at North Carolina, a program not named in the FBI investigation, was expected by some at the time to commit to Arizona, a client of Nike. In the transcript obtained by Outside the Lines, Gatto spoke to Merl Code, another former Adidas employee charged in the investigation, on countering an offer from Arizona for Little's services that was expected to reach $150,000.
"The problem is, Arizona's offered the kid 150, and we're trying to keep him from going to one of their schools," Gatto said in the transcript provided from the wiretapped call. "So, it was brought to me through Brad and Christian, who said, 'Hey, do you think Jim would be able to keep him at Miami, because they really want the kid.'"
After the news broke regarding the FBI investigation last September, Little quickly removed both Arizona and Miami from consideration, distancing himself from the investigation.
On Sept. 28, 2017, the 1 Family Hoops Program, Little's AAU organization, came out in support of Little and his family, writing in a tweet that Little's family was unaware of the potential payments at hand.
"The Little family did not ask for, nor were offered money by any institution or individual," 1 Family Hoops said in the statement via Twitter. "They were completely unaware of any of the alleged offenses that may have mentioned or contained their son's name."
