Thread by @latimes

An FBI investigation into #NCAA basketball corruption was hailed as a watershed moment in college sports.

But records offer new details about the lead agent’s role and an investigation that focused on lesser-known coaches and middlemen, most of them Black
latimes.com/california/sto…

Times reporter @nathanfenno examined thousands of pages of court testimony, intercepted phone calls, text messages, emails and performance reviews.

The records provide a look inside the probe, led by a veteran FBI agent whose conduct landed him on the wrong side of the law.

The investigation was the top priority for the New York FBI’s public corruption squad for almost a year, according to lead agent Scott Carpenter's performance review in 2017, and included two undercover agents and operations in at least eight states.

FBI agents arrested 10 men, including assistant coaches from USC, Arizona, Auburn and Oklahoma State.

Prosecutors alleged the coaches took bribes and that Adidas representatives funneled money to lure players to colleges the company sponsored.

But almost six years later, the operation that was supposed to expose college basketball’s “dark underbelly” didn’t transform the sport.

No head coaches or administrators were charged.

There wasn’t a public outcry.

Instead, the government rounded up low-level figures for alleged wrongdoing — particularly the coach bribery scheme —that many said wasn’t a common practice until the FBI started handing out cash.

Read the full investigation from @nathanfenno: latimes.com/california/sto…