Updated at 6:15 p.m.

A high-ranking Adidas executive was arrested Tuesday, the biggest catch in a sweeping corruption case that struck at the heart of college and youth basketball.

Jim Gatto, who identifies himself as the head of sports marketing on his LinkedIn profile, has been accused of conspiring with coaches and others to bribe high school athletes to play for colleges sponsored by Adidas, which has its North American headquarters in Portland.

The case stems from a two-year FBI investigation that also implicated several basketball agents, college assistant coaches and another Adidas employee, Merl Code.

Gatto, wearing black jeans and a gray Adidas sweatshirt, appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim Yoo in Portland. His only comments -- "Yes, your honor" -- came after the judge asked whether he understood his right to remain silent. He was ordered to surrender his passport and placed under pretrial supervision until his next court date.

Investigators allege the 47-year-old engineered a $100,000 payment to the family of a Indiana high school player to ensure he agreed to play for the University of Louisville. They also allege he participated in a $150,000 bribe to convince another athlete to attend an Adidas-sponsored school in Florida.

Gatto has been with Adidas for 23 years, according to his LinkedIn profile. He's accused of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, court documents show.

Friends and former co-workers expressed shock at the charges.

"I worked with Jimmie, he's a good guy," said Steve Wynne, an executive at Moda Health who once headed Adidas' North American operations. "He was a junior guy then in basketball promotions."

Wynne remembers a young employee eager to learn the ropes and willing to handle the details that his co-workers left him. "He was what we called a sweeper, a guy who swept up all the things left laying there."

Code, according to the indictment, is involved in college and high school basketball programs with Adidas. He allegedly "participated in organizing of the payments" made by Adidas to players and their families.

Adidas officials said they had just learned of the charges Tuesday. "We are learning more about the situation," company spokesperson Lauren Lamkin said in a written statement. "We're unaware of any misconduct and will fully cooperate with authorities to understand more."

Neither Gatto nor Code could be reached for comment.

Sneaker companies have for decades been a major force in the business of college basketball, signing multimillion-dollar deals with individual universities that put their logos on school uniforms. Some of the higher-profile coaches have their own contracts with the companies.

Four NCAA assistant basketball coaches also were charged Tuesday in connection with the scheme: Lamont Evans of Oklahoma State University; Chuck Person, Auburn University; Tony Bland, University of Southern California; and Emanuel Richardson, University of Arizona.

Interestingly, three of the four are not Adidas schools. They have endorsement contracts with Nike.

Over time, in their quest for the hearts and minds of basketball's best players and most avid fans, Nike and Adidas extended their reach downward to youth basketball. Each company sponsors elite Amateur Athletic Union teams and high-level camps for players.

Nike has long ruled the basketball endorsement business, just as it dominates the athletic footwear and apparel industry. But a resurgent Adidas has made strong gains in the past three years, and partly at Nike's expense.

As Adidas's success grew, it got more aggressive in bidding for endorsements. In August, it entered into a 10-year agreement with Louisville for a reported $160 million, one of the largest collegiate deals ever.

Just last week, Adidas announced that it had extended its contract with the University of Kansas through the 2031.

Court documents go into considerable detail on how the alleged bribery program worked. Code allegedly dealt closely with Munish Sood, another defendant, who worked as a financial planner and was hoping to score some of these athletes as clients. The documents detail a number of conversations caught by an FBI wiretap in which Code, Sood and others discuss how to pay $100,000 to the family of a blue-chip prospect to get the player to sign with an unidentified Adidas university.

Unbeknownst to Code, Sood and Gatto, another unidentified person working with Sood was an undercover informant for the FBI.

Code, himself a former Clemson basketball player, allegedly laid out the business logic of the payoffs. "You guys are being introduced to... how stuff happens with kids and getting into particular schools and so this is kind of one of those instances where we needed to step up and help one of our flagship schools, you know, secure a five-star caliber kid. Obviously that helps, you know, our potential business."

Gatto allegedly got the money from Adidas by submitting false invoices to the company.

Gatto's attorney, Tyler Francis, declined Tuesday to comment about the allegations. His client, who was expected to be released before the end of the day, is scheduled to appear in federal court in New York on Oct. 10.

Adidas stock, which has surged 50 percent this year, closed down nearly 3.2 percent.

Code once headed a junior basketball league for Nike. In a July 2013 letter from Code to participants in a LeBron James Skills Academy, Code identified himself as elite youth director of Nike basketball. He left Nike three years ago, the company said.

Staff writers Elliot Njus and Maxine Bernstein contributed this report.

-- Jeff Manning

503-294-7606, @JeffmanningOre