The two coaches plotted over text messages with winking-face emojis, hatching a clean and simple scheme. The middleman was so confident — so delighted at his good fortune — that he allegedly bragged about it publicly. One million dollars to get a kid into Harvard! Can you believe it?

The money changed hands right out in the open: a series of donations, a land deal, a real estate purchase. Behind the scenes, they were frank about finances and favors, calling each other “brother,’’ “boss,’’ and “genius.’’

The country has been transfixed by Operation Varsity Blues, a sprawling college admissions scandal winding its way through federal court in Boston in which mega-rich parents and Hollywood celebrities paid a California college consultant to fake resumes and test scores and get their children admitted into top schools.