Text messages and emails from Nike executives entered in federal court on Friday paint a vivid portrait of the inner workings of grassroots basketball.

They include detailed plans to pay then-high school stars such as Zion Williamson and Romeo Langford, line-item accounting of alleged payments to the people around eventual No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, and an acknowledgement by a top Nike executive that “the perception and resulting reality is that we dictate where players go to school.”

Controversial lawyer Michael Avenatti produced the exhibits on Friday that supported his allegations filed earlier this week that Nike has engaged in widespread corruption and under-the-table payments to high school players via its Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL).

The exhibits, which were filed in federal court, are brazenly honest, often authored by Nike’s own employees via corporate email and corporate cell phone texts. There are discussions of payments through a network of EYBL coaches, an apparent bill for $65,840 in handouts to people affiliated with Ayton, and a declaration from one Nike exec that the competition to land elite players is “war.”

The documents continue to show how commonly top high school players are paid to play for specific shoe companies, despite potential violations of NCAA amateurism rules. It also again calls into question why a sweeping federal investigation and two subsequent trials focused almost exclusively on Adidas, resulting in the convictions of an executive and a consultant and the cooperation of an AAU coach.

Nike’s executives have been spared federal scrutiny so far. Defense attorneys repeatedly argued at those trials Adidas wasn’t bidding against itself.



Avenatti was arrested on federal extortion charges earlier this year. Prosecutors allege he tried to “shake down” Nike by demanding they hire him to run an internal investigation of the EYBL or he would reveal incriminating details of the payouts.

Avenatii pleaded not guilty and filed a motion to dismiss the case on Wednesday, arguing he was negotiating on behalf of a client, a fired EYBL coach from California who turned whistleblower on the company.

Nike has thus far declined to address any of Avenatti’s claims, repeatedly stating it “will not respond to the allegations of an individual facing federal charges of fraud and extortion.”

View photos Michael Avenatti produced exhibits on Friday that supported his allegations that Nike has engaged in widespread corruption and under-the-table payments to high school players. (AP) More

How Nike does business

The exhibits released on Friday, however, are not allegations by Avenatti. They are descriptions of how Nike did business in the words of Nike’s own executives, including Carlton DeBose, the director of the EYBL. DeBose is unknown to the common fan who watches March Madness, but is considered one of the most powerful men in the recruiting ecosystem of college basketball. For years, the EYBL has showcased the majority of the top American high school basketball players, which meant DeBose and his associates had sway over how Nike distributed its resources among those teams.

Nike itself previously handed over these documents to the federal government and thus has been aware of their existence. All parties included in the documents remain employed by Nike. DeBose has been seen in July and August at marquee Nike events.

The exhibits filed include a July 30, 2016, email in which DeBose explains to Nico Harrison, Nike’s vice president of North American Basketball Operations, the state of bidding wars between Nike, Adidas and Under Armour for top talent. DeBose said it can reach $100,000 for a high school player.

DeBose also noted that “I am willing to bet that 38 of 40 teams in the EYBL had to pay a moderate to considerable ransom to families to just play in the EYBL.”

DeBose also participated in a text message exchange on July 6, 2017, with an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky, according to the motion. In the exhibits, the initials “KP” are attached to one non-DeBose number. Kentucky has an assistant basketball coach named Kenny Payne.

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