Former NC State head coach Mark Gottfried is being directly connected to alleged impermissible payments in his quest to land top prospect Dennis Smith Jr.

According to ESPN, recent court filings indicate that former NC State assistant Orlando Early disclosed to his attorney that Gottfried “gave him envelopes containing what Early believed was cash” to make sure the five-star guard signed with NC State in 2015. The money was supposed to be given to Smith’s trainer, Shawn Farmer, and then passed on to Smith’s father.

According to the disclosure, Early, who now works as a scout for the Memphis Grizzlies, believed the amount of money “was in the ballpark of $100,000 or more.” Elsewhere in the disclosure, it is alleged that Gottfried told Early he would “take care of the payments to the Smith family himself.”

Per ESPN’s reporting, the revelations relating to Gottfried, who was fired after the 2017 season and is now the head coach at Cal State Northridge, were part of the sentencing of former Adidas executive James Gatto, who was sentenced to nine months in federal prison earlier this week as part of the widespread federal corruption case in college basketball.

Gottfried’s alleged involvement was not introduced as evidence during the case’s trial, which resulted in convictions for Gatto and two others.

Mark Gottfried was the head coach at NC State from 2011-2017. He is now the head coach at Cal State Northridge. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker) More

Attorney: Disclosure ‘conflicts with sworn testimony’

In a statement to ESPN, Scott Tompsett, Gottfried’s attorney, denied the allegations on behalf of his client.

“The statement being reported on is false and conflicts with the sworn testimony of the government's lead witness in the trial last fall,” Tompsett’s statement said. “Specifically, at trial, T.J. Gassnola testified, under penalty of perjury, that he did not discuss the payment to Dennis Smith with anyone at N.C. State other than one assistant coach. Thus, the statement being reported on as it refers to Mr. Gottfried is not corroborated by a single shred of evidence and it conflicts with the sworn testimony of the government's lead witness at the trial last fall.”

Gassnola, a former Adidas consultant, testified in October that he made two payments to people close to Smith, including an instance where he handed over $40,000 in cash to Early. Aside from Early, Gassnola testified that he did not discuss “the plan to pay money to the family of Dennis Smith” with anyone else at NC State.

Smith eventually did sign with NC State. He averaged 18.1 points per game in his lone season with the Wolfpack before leaving school for the NBA. He was selected ninth overall by the Dallas Mavericks. He has since been traded to the New York Knicks as part of the deal involving Kristaps Porzingis.

Cal State Northridge, Gottfried’s current employer, said it will “fully cooperate” with any investigation.

Official Statement from CSUN Athletics pic.twitter.com/cykR4cpiHA — CSUN Matadors (@GoMatadors) March 9, 2019

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