NEW YORK — If it were ever possible to isolate a three-sentence statement that both illustrates the alleged conspiracy at the heart of the ongoing college basketball corruption case and highlights the level of interpretation required of the jury in its eventual ruling, the prosecution provided it in Wednesday’s closing arguments. The statement was in a recording made of Merl Code, a former Adidas consultant and one of three defendants on trial—along with Adidas executive Jim Gatto and aspiring player agent Christian Dawkins—for wire fraud charges. In the recording Code is explaining the “shoe wars” in which Adidas is endlessly battling its sportswear competitors and how payments to basketball prospects help them wage it.
Attorneys Claim Defendants Had no Intent of Defrauding N. C. State, Kansas, Miami, and Louisville
