Like Bowen, Louisville and Pitino were not named in the complaint. But the 10 men charged comprised nearly all the colors in the college sports corruption rainbow: coaches, sneaker company officials, an agent, a money manager, an A.A.U. coach and even a middleman whose main business is bespoke suits. Six major programs were implicated, and investigators hinted that others were up to similar endeavors, as was at least one of Adidas’s corporate rivals.

But nowhere was the cynics’ knowing intimations about the true nature of college basketball more clearly sketched than in the tale of Brian Bowen.

Moving to Indiana

Bowen was only the second freshman ever to start for Greg McMath, then the longtime varsity basketball coach at Arthur Hill High in Saginaw. During his sophomore year, Bowen helped the Lumberjacks to a runner-up finish in their state’s divisional championship, lifting his recruiting stock along with his team.

He then decided to transfer, McMath said in an interview, because of state rules that prohibited teams from traveling to play top-ranked national opponents. His destination was a formidable basketball power, La Lumiere School, just over the state line in Indiana. It offered both the basketball resources and academic challenges — the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts Jr., is a graduate — Bowen seemed to want.

“La Lumiere is a great school academically,” McMath said, adding: “Tugs has always been a high character. Really good at math.”

As a senior there, Bowen was named a finalist for the Naismith national player of the year award as he led La Lumiere to a 29-1 record and the No. 1 spot in USA Today’s expert rankings.

Under a bleached mushroom haircut, a homage to the N.F.L. star Odell Beckham Jr., he glided over the court, and scouts who watched him noted that his game — and his body — appeared to have plenty of room to grow. The fact that Bowen had yet to pick a college only made him more intriguing. As the season progressed, his recruiting process intensified. Top coaches like Texas’s Shaka Smart, Arizona’s Sean Miller and U.C.L.A.’s Steve Alford visited him, and he went to see them — and others — on their campuses.