NCAA breaks down calls, texts between Adidas consultant and NC State basketball coaches
At the heart of N.C. State’s case with the NCAA is what a former Adidas consultant testified in federal court was a $40,000 payment to the family of former basketball star Dennis Smith Jr. during the recruiting process.
In its response to N.C. State and former coach Mark Gottfried in the ongoing violations case, the NCAA outlined a pattern of consistent communication between T.J. Gassnola, the former Adidas consultant; Shawn Farmer, who was acting as a trainer for Smith and a go-between for Adidas and Smith’s family; and the N.C. State coaching staff — specifically Gottfried and former assistant coach Orlando Early — during Smith’s recruitment.
The 48-page response from the NCAA, dated Feb. 7 and released by N.C. State on Monday, sets up a showdown between the school and the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions.
A hearing date has not been set but could be scheduled for later this month or in March.
“While we appreciate the NCAA Enforcement Staff’s detailed response, N.C. State remains in strong disagreement with many of the characterizations and conclusions in their Enforcement Written Reply,” N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson said in a statement released by the school. “As we have said throughout this process, we will vigorously defend the university where necessary and take ownership where appropriate. We look forward to a hearing with the infractions committee and the opportunity to make our case in person.”
Former Adidas executive Jim Gatto was convicted of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court in New York last spring after a wide-ranging FBI-probe into the sneaker company and its affiliated college basketball programs. Gassnola pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was the government’s key witness in Gatto’s trial.
During the trial, Gassnola testified that he made a $40,000 payment to Early in Oct. 2015 and that Early was supposed to deliver the money to Farmer. The alleged payment was one of four violations outlined in the Notice of Allegations the NCAA sent to N.C. State in July.
The school and Gottfried, now a coach at Cal State-Northridge, separately responded to the NCAA in December. The documents released by N.C. State on Monday serve as the NCAA’s response to both parties and sets up the pending hearing with the NCAA’s COI. The penalty phase will follow the hearing.
Phone records implicate Early, Gottfried
In the NCAA’s response on Monday, it documented a series of phone calls and texts between Early, Gottfried, Gassnola and Farmer in the days before and after Gassnola flew to Raleigh to deliver the $40,000 payment to Early on Nov. 2, 2015.
According to the NCAA, which had access to Early and Gottfried’s phone records, Early and Gassnola exchanged two phone calls and one text and Early had two phone calls with Farmer on Oct. 30, 2015, the day Gassnola withdrew $40,000 from his bank account.
The next day, Gassnola booked his flight to Raleigh, he and Early spoke once by phone and had one text message conversation and Early spoke with Farmer at least three times.
On Nov. 2, the day Gassnola testified that he flew to Raleigh and delivered the $40,000 to Early’s house, they communicated via text nine times, and Gassnola had a 6-minute telephone conversation with Gottfried.
During the timeline of Gassnola’s delivery of the payment to Early on Nov. 2 and Smith’s commitment on Nov. 12, 2015, the phone records show on 31 occasions Early communicated with Farmer then immediately contacted Gottfried or vice versa.
Additionally, on 15 occasions during that same time, Early communicated with Gassnola then immediately contacted Gottfried or vice versa.
The News & Observer initially requested the phone records for Early and Gottfried in October 2017. Three different times, between 2017 and 2019, the school had asked for the scope of the request to be narrowed. In December 2019, the school was set to release the complete phone records to the N&O, but Gottfried’s attorneys were able to get a temporary restraining order.
The phone records, for Gottfried or Early, have not been provided to the N&O or other media outlets who made the public records request. The school provided the phone records initially to the FBI in January 2018 and they were subsequently used by the NCAA in this case.
A pattern of communication
N.C. State had an apparel deal with Adidas before Smith’s high-profile recruitment in 2015 but the NCAA’s response shows that communication between Gottfried, Early, Gassnola and Farmer was specific to the recruitment of Smith, one of the top high school players in the country out of Fayetteville.
Smith committed to N.C. State in November 2015 and enrolled in January 2016 to rehab a knee injury. He was an All-ACC guard in his lone season with the Wolfpack in 2016-17 before he entered the NBA draft and was a lottery pick. He is in his third pro season, his second with the New York Knicks, and in April 2019 denied in a meeting with Carrie Doyle, the senior associate athletic director for compliance at N.C. State, that he received the payment from Gassnola.
All four potential violations outlined in the NOA are connected to Smith, including two “Level II” charges for giving too many complimentary tickets to Smith’s family and/or Farmer during the 2016-17 season.
According to the NCAA’s response, it was Gassnola who introduced Farmer to the N.C. State coaching staff in February 2015. In the five months prior, Early had never called Farmer but between February and November 2015, Early and Farmer had called each other 409 times.
Early had one call with Gassnola prior to January 2015 but they called each other 171 times between January and November 2015.
The NCAA noted in Gottfried’s phone records, that prior to February 2015, the former head coach didn’t have any calls to Gassnola or Farmer. Between August and November 2015, Gottfried exchanged 17 calls with Gassnola and four calls with Farmer.
There is no timetable for the NCAA to set the hearing date or provide the punishment. In its response to the NCAA, N.C. State suggested a self-imposed scholarship reduction and a $5,000 fine.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 11:14 AM with the headline "NCAA breaks down calls, texts between Adidas consultant and NC State basketball coaches."
