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Arizona forward Deandre Ayton holds the ball against Buffalo during the first half of a first-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Thursday, March 15, 2018, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Arizona forward Deandre Ayton holds the ball against Buffalo during the first half of a first-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament Thursday, March 15, 2018, in Boise, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Adidas Consultant Says He Paid Families of Deandre Ayton, Dennis Smith Jr. More

Adam WellsOct 10, 2018

As the NCAA's corruption trial continued on Wednesday, a former Adidas consultant testified to paying families of multiple high-profile college basketball players.

Per CBS Sports' Matt NorlanderT.J. Gassnola said under oath he gave money to the families of Deandre Ayton (Arizona), Dennis Smith Jr. (North Carolina State), Silvio De Sousa (Kansas), Billy Preston and Brian Bowen II. 

Brian Bowen Sr. testified on Oct. 4 that he received multiple offers from different schools for his son, including Arizona making an offer of $50,000 and Oklahoma State proposing $150,000, an additional $8,000 to put toward a car and "some undisclosed amount to buy a house."

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Ayton was at the center of controversy in February 2018 when ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach reported Arizona head coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins discussed a $100,000 payment to secure Ayton's commitment. 

Miller was held out of one game before returning to the bench on March 1 against Stanford. 

Pat Forde and Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports published a report in February that included information about documents and bank records obtained in discovery during the FBI's investigation into corruption in college athletics. 

"The documents show an underground recruiting operation that could create NCAA rules issuesboth current and retroactivefor at least 20 Division I basketball programs and more than 25 players," Forde and Thamel wrote. 

Smith's name was listed in the documents as an alleged recipient of up to $73,500 in loans. 

Ayton and Smith are currently in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks, respectively. De Sousa is preparing for his sophomore year at Kansas. Preston signed a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Canton Charge of the NBA G League. 

Bowen, who started last year at Louisville before transferring to South Carolina in January, didn't appear in a college game. He signed with the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League in August. 

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