USC Basketball: Assistant coach Tony Bland charged in FBI fraud probe

USC Basketball assistant Tony Bland was one of four college basketball coaches charged on Tuesday in an FBI probe alleging a bribery and fraud scheme.

Just when it appeared things were looking up for USC Basketball, the program was rocked with a scandal involving associate head coach Tony Bland.

Bland was arrested for his role in a bribery and fraud scheme uncovered by the FBI this summer, involving college basketball agents, assistant coaches and a global sports apparel company.

UPDATE: Bland has been placed on administrative leave and USC has hired former FBI director Louis Freeh to conduct an internal investigation into the allegations.

The USC assistant was one of four college basketball coaches arrested as part of the investigation which was made possible by a cooperating witness who had recently been charged by the SEC for fraud and two undercover FBI agents.

The FBI alleges that Bland accepted a $13,000 bribe Christian Dawkins and Munish Sood in exchange for his asserting his influence over USC basketball players, funneling them to Dawkins and Sood for their business management and financial advisory services.

“I can definitely mold the players and put them in the lap of you guys,” Bland said at one point, according to the FBI.

Bland is also accused of arranging for Dawkins and Sood to “take care of” a pair of Trojan players, who were unnamed but described as a “rising freshman” and a “rising sophomore” on the current team. As a result, payments of $4,000 and $5,000 were allegedly funneled to the players’ families, according to the FBI.

USC athletic director Lynn Swann released a statement on Tuesday morning regarding the arrest:

"“We were shocked to learn this morning through news reports about the FBI investigation and arrests related to NCAA basketball programs, including the arrest of USC assistant coach Tony Bland. USC Athletics maintains the highest standards in athletic compliance across all of our programs and does not tolerate misconduct in any way. We will cooperate fully with the investigation and will assist authorities as needed, and if these allegations are true, will take the needed actions.”"

Along with USC, three other universities saw assistant coaches arrested on Tuesday, including Arizona, Auburn and Oklahoma State, with similar claims against them.

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The probe also involved Adidas executive Jim Gatto, who is accused of participating in another alleged scheme wherein bribes were used to influence players to sign with universities sponsored by the company. Though not named in the probe, Louisville and Miami may be at the heart of those allegations, as reported by Syracuse.com.

Bland is entering his fifth season as an assistant coach at USC. He was hired in 2013 after spending two seasons at San Diego State.

Renown as a top recruiter, Bland’s involvement in this FBI probe likely spells major problems for the Trojans as the NCAA enters the picture.

In the meantime, the FBI says their investigation is ongoing and more could be revealed in time.