Michael Avenatti claims Nike paid Zion Williamson's mom, Duke is investigating
Over the last two weeks, attorney Michael Avenatti has stirred the college basketball pot on Twitter. After only teasing us, now he has something that could be pretty significant.
The attorney who is being investigated for extorting Nike now claims the shoe company paid Zion Williamson’s mother, Sharonda Sampson, for “consulting services.” In theory, those payments were to convince Zion, who played for an Adidas AAU team, to attend a Nike school.
.@DukeMBB – About this denial by Coach K the other day relating to payments by Nike…Can you please ask Zion Williamson’s mother – Sharonda Sampson – whether she was paid by @nike for bogus “consulting services” in 2016/17 as part of a Nike bribe to get Zion to go to Duke? Thx.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 6, 2019
I almost forgot – long day – @DukeMBB can you also have your close friends at @Nike check their Nike Vendor Portal for payments to “Sharonda Sampson Consulting”. Just search 2016 to the present. Appreciate it.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 6, 2019
Avenatti also provided some documents that tie the shoe company to DeAndre Ayton and Bol Bol.
Even if you consider the attorney to be nothing more than a carnival barker, they say where there’s smoke, there’s fire. His claims are enough to get the Duke athletic department to investigate the matter.
“We are aware of the allegation and, as we would with any compliance matter, are looking into it. Duke is fully committed to compliance with all NCAA rules and regulations,” athletic director Kevin White wrote in a statement to The Chronicle. “Every student athlete at Duke is reviewed to ensure their eligibility. With regard to men’s basketball: all recruits and their families are thoroughly vetted by Duke in collaboration with the NCAA through the Eligibility Center’s amateurism certification process.”
Even if Avenatti’s claims prove to be untrue, this isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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