UK, Duke and UNC mentioned in alleged pay-for-play scheme involving Zion Williamson

The ongoing trial involving convicted felon Christian Dawkins has brought up new testimony that involves the Kentucky Wildcats, Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels basketball programs.

Dawkins, who is one of the central figures in the FBI’s ongoing investigation into college hoops corruption, was caught on an FBI wiretap discussing how those three schools had the “resources” to make a run for Zion Williamson when he was still an uncommitted Class of 2018 recruit.

This isn’t the first time Dawkins and Kentucky have been linked. Back in November of 2018, a report surfaced that linked former Wildcats forward Jarred Vanderbilt and current point guard Ashton Hagans to Dawkins.

But at no point in that report did it say the players or their families agreed to these payments. Nothing ultimately came of that report other than Hagans’ family denying the claims.

Ultimately, Williamson ended up at Duke, so it’s hard to see this turning into an issue for Kentucky, especially since it’s become clear that Dawkins cannot be trusted and there’s still no concrete proof that Kentucky was doing this.

Still, this will be something to monitor as the trial continues.

As for Duke, former Blue Devils have now been mentioned twice in this trial after Marvin Bagley was also linked to an alleged pay-for-play scheme:

The good news for Duke is it involved former USC Trojans assistant Tony Bland setting up the payment, but it’s still not a good sign for Duke that their two best players of the last two seasons have been linked to pay-for-play schemes.