Ex-College Basketball Coach Lamont Evans Sentenced to 3 Months for Taking Bribes
June 7, 2019
Former Oklahoma State Cowboys and South Carolina Gamecocks assistant basketball coach Lamont Evans received a three-month prison sentence Friday for accepting bribes to push players toward certain managers and financial advisers.
Larry Neumeister of the Associated Press reported U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos also ordered Evans to forfeit $22,000 and work 100 hours of community service during the sentencing in New York City.
The 41-year-old former Drake University guard called it "one of the saddest days of my life" as he exited the courtroom after telling Ramos he found "an easy way to make money," per Neumeister.
"In hindsight and upon reflection, I knew that it was wrong," Evans said.
He pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit bribery in January after admitting he accepted $22,000 in bribes during his time at Oklahoma State and South Carolina.
"I now know that accepting those funds in exchange for introducing them to any one player was wrong and violated the law," Evans said at the time.
Prosecutors in the case had initially aimed for an 18-month prison term.
Evans became the third former college basketball assistant sentenced in New York City this week.
Tony Bland (USC Trojans) received two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, while Emanuel "Book" Richardson (Arizona Wildcats) was sentenced to three months in prison.
Chuck Person (Auburn Tigers) is the final assistant awaiting his sentence as part of the FBI's investigation into alleged corruption in college athletics.