Update:
Assistant Men’s Basketball coach Corey Barker was placed on administrative leave Friday, a day after reports surfaced that he had been implicated in a federal investigation into college basketball.
TCU Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati released a statement:
“While TCU conducts an internal review, assistant men’s basketball coach Corey Barker has been placed on administrative leave. In light of the ongoing judicial process and our institutional practice of not discussing personnel matters, we will have no further comment.”
On Thursday, Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel reported that court documents linked TCU to the ongoing federal investigation of college basketball.
In a superseding indictment filed this afternoon, federal prosecutors allege Christian Dawkins paid bribes to unnamed assistant coaches at schools located in Nebraska and Texas.
— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) March 7, 2019
Citing unnamed sources, Wetzel said that the TCU and Creighton assistant coaches are accused of receiving bribes from former Adidas consultant Christian Dawkins. Earlier this week, Dawkins was sentenced to six months in prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for funneling illegal payments to families of recruits.
Sources say the two assistant coaches involved are Preston Murphy at Creighton and Corey Barker at TCU.— Dan Wetzel (@DanWetzel) March 7, 2019
Wetzel later tweeted that Barker was implicated, but added that “no new charges” have been filed.
“The assistant coaches at those schools are thus unlikely to be charged with crimes the way previous assistant coaches were,” Wetzel tweeted.
Donati released a statement on Thursday:
“TCU recently received a subpoena, a court order from the Southern District of New York, requiring us to provide specific employment records related to one of our staff members. After receiving the subpoena, we began gathering the responsive information and conducting an internal review.
“We learned this afternoon of the superseding indictment filed in the same matter, and we are evaluating how it impacts our review. Out of respect for the ongoing judicial process, we have no additional comment.”
The FBI investigation has focused mostly on Adidas-sponsored schools because Dawkins was a consultant for the athletic apparel
When the FBI’s probe became public in 2017, Dixon said he thought it was good day for the sport.
“I think it’s a good day, to be honest,” Dixon said. “I think some things will get cleaned up and talked about.”
Dixon also said at the time that he had asked his coaches to disclose anything he might need to be aware of in light of the FBI investigation; he was “quite comfortable” that his staff has nothing to hide from the investigation, he said.
“We continue to lecture our guys about never going down that road because there are challenges out there every day,” Dixon said. “Every day we face some kind of decision that we have to make a choice.”
TCU, with a record of 18-12 overall and 6-11 Big 12 play, concludes its regular season in a game against the Texas Longhorns at 11 a.m on Saturday in Austin. The Horned Frogs are battling to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament for consecutive seasons for the first time since 1952-1953.
