A dad who ruined his son’s NCAA college basketball career by accepting kickbacks to send his kid to play for the Louisville Cardinals said he also took money from an assistant to the school’s Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino.
Brian Bowen Sr. told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday that he was promised $100,000 from Adidas to send his son, Brian “Tugs” Bowen, to play for the Cardinals, an Adidas sponsored school — as well as living expenses from assistant coach Kenny Johnson.
Bowen said he ultimately only got $1,300 from Johnson in a handoff that took place last summer in front of the Galt House Hotel in downtown Louisville, where he had relocated to help manage his son’s basketball career.
Bowen also only pocketed $19,400 from Adidas before the feds swooped in and began asking questions in Sept. 2017, he said.
It’s the latest claim of dirty money in a scandal that has rocked college basketball.
Last week, Bowen testified that close to half a dozen NCAA Division-1 schools offered him money in an effort to recruit Tugs in violation of NCAA rules.
Bowen is a key witness at the trial of three men accused of arranging payments to recruit players like Tugs, including ex-Adidas executive James Gatto, ex-Adidas consultant Meryl Code and sports business manager Christian Dawkins.
The men have denied defrauding schools like Louisville, saying they were making the payments to help the schools — not hurt them.
But the scandal has hurt plenty of people, including Tugs, who was removed from the Cardinals before he ever played a single game — along with former New York Knicks coach Pitino, who has denied any wrongdoing.
Johnson is now an assistant coach with the La Salle men’s basketball team.



