Brian Bowen Sr., who is accused of agreeing to a pay-for-play scheme to receive $100,000 from Adidas to send his son to the University of Louisville, broke down during his testimony on Thursday in a federal criminal trial involving bribes and other corruption in college basketball.
Assistant U.S. attorney Edward Diskant asked him about his son, Brian Bowen II, who is also known affectionately as “Tugs.”
“Is Tugs presently in college?” Diskant asked.
“Uh, no, he’s not,” Bowen Sr. answered.
“Why isn’t he in college?” Diskant asked.
Brian Bowen II is currently playing professionally in Australia, but his father became super emotional after being asked, and asked the court for a break.
At one point Brian Bowen Sr. Began to break down and cry on the stand and the judge ordered a 15-minute break in the action
Bowen then came back and proceeded to list all the people whom he had prostituted his son to since at least 2015.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) October 4, 2018
When he returned he accused several schools including Arizona, Creighton, Oklahoma Stateand Texas, of offering him tens of thousands of dollars in cash and other improper benefits for his son to play basketball at those schools.
Brian Bowen Sr. told the jury today that Christian Dawkins conveyed the following offers for Brian Bowen Jr. to commit:
• Arizona: $50,000
• Oklahoma State: $150,000, $8000 for a car, money for a house
• Texas: “help me with housing”
• Creighton: $100,000 and a “good job”— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) October 4, 2018
Just because he’s accused these schools of pay for play, he still needs to back up his claims. Will see if he can do that. College basketball has been carrying on like this for a long time.
Lots of allegations coming out from Brian Bowen Sr. today on offers from schools and specific coaches. Will be interesting to see if he has any proof, and then what the schools/NCAA do beyond an investigation.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) October 4, 2018