Munish Sood Testified He Gave Money to People for Markelle Fultz, Kyle Kuzma
Munish Sood, a former financial adviser involved in a trial related to the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, told the jury Wednesday that he helped secure money for associates of Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma and Philadelphia 76ers guard Markelle Fultz when they were in college.
Kuzma played at the University of Utah, while Fultz played for the University of Washington.
According to Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com, Sood testified he provided money for NBA agent Stephen Pina of ASM Sports. Sood said he lent out $30,000 to a Fultz associate and an undisclosed amount to a Kuzma associate during their collegiate careers.
Sood is testifying in the trial involving Jim Gatto, Merl Code and Christian Dawkins as part of a plea agreement. Sood could receive 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery and wire fraud conspiracy, among other charges.
Gatto is an Adidas executive, while Code is a former consultant for the sports apparel giant. Dawkins is a former runner for former NBA agent Andy Miller. The trio were accused of running a "pay-for-play scheme" intended to entice recruits to schools sponsored by Adidas.
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports noted the trial figures to feature people connected to a number of schools, including Louisville, Arizona, North Carolina State, Texas and Oregon:
Gatto's attorney said he had evidence Oregon offered "an astronomical amount of money" to recruit Brian Bowen, per Wetzel, which is said to have led to a $100,000 offer from Louisville.
Bowen signed with Louisville but left during the scandal.
As for Fultz, he played one season with the Huskies before leaving for the NBA draft. The 76ers selected him with the first overall pick of the 2017 draft.
Kuzma was selected 27th overall in the same draft by the Brooklyn Nets after a three-year career with the Utes. He was traded to the Lakers along with Brook Lopez for D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov on draft night.
