Ex-USC Assistant Coach Tony Bland Negotiates Plea Deal in CBB Fraud Case

Former USC Trojans assistant basketball coach Tony Bland reportedly reached an agreement with federal prosecutors Thursday as part of the college basketball corruption case. 

Mark Schlabach of ESPN.com reported Bland, who was fired by USC in January, is expected to receive probation after being indicted on felony charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, honest services wire fraud, mail fraud conspiracy and violating the Travel Act in November 2017.

Federal prosecutors alleged Bland accepted a $13,000 bribe to steer Trojans toward Christian Dawkins' sports management company and financial advisor Munish Sood, per Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times.

"My part of the job can be to get the parents, and to introduce them to Christian and say, 'Hey, I trust him and vouch for him,'" Bland said on an August 2017 undercover recording. "... I can definitely get the players. ... And I can definitely mold the players and put them in the lap of you guys."

He also allegedly directed $9,000 in payments to former USC player De'Anthony Melton and Trojans recruiting target Taeshon Cherry, who ultimately signed with the Arizona State Sun Devils, according to Fenno.

The charges brought against Bland were part of a larger case acting U.S. attorney Joon H. Kim said centered around the "dark underbelly of college basketball" when the FBI arrested 10 individuals, including four assistant coaches, in September 2017, per Shachar Peled of CNN.

"All of those charged today contributed to a pay-to-play culture that has no business in college basketball," FBI New York division assistant director in charge Bill Sweeney said at the time.

Pat Forde, Pete Thamel and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports noted federal prosecutors won guilty verdicts against Dawkins and Adidas executives James Gatto and Merl Code in October. Former Arizona Wildcats assistant Emanuel "Book" Richardson and former Oklahoma State Cowboys assistant Lamont Evans are among the individuals waiting for trial in 2019.

The Yahoo report noted Bland could have received up to 80 years in prison for the four counts, but it was unlikely he would have received the maximum sentence, even if found guilty.