Duke

Report raises questions about relationship between Nike, Marvin Bagley III's family

Posted March 23, 2018 4:16 p.m. EDT
Updated July 13, 2018 2:07 p.m. EDT

— As Duke prepares for a Sweet 16 showdown with ACC foe Syracuse, questions are swirling about the relationship between Marvin Bagley III's family and Nike.

An expansive report published by The Oregonian focused on Nike's financial support of Bagley's club basketball team, coached by Bagley's father, Marvin Bagley Jr.

The Oregonian details the lengths major shoe companies go to when working to entice young basketball talent and while sponsoring grassroots basketball.

"Marvin Bagley Jr. and his wife filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April 2008, during the Great Recession, listing their combined annual income at just over $44,000," the report said. "Four years later, shortly after Nike's sponsorship of the team became public, they left their working-class neighborhood in Phoenix for southern California. In a tax filing, the Bagleys listed a home address in a gated subdivision called Porter Ranch. Similarly sized homes in the vicinity typically sell for $750,000 to $1.5 million."

The Bagleys declined to comment to The Oregonian, and when contacted by WRAL News Friday, Duke University also declined to comment on the questions raised in the report.

After arriving in California, Bagley enrolled at Sierra Canyon High School and later skipped his senior season to enroll early and take the court for the Blue Devils.

He's rewritten the record books during his first – and likely only – season in Durham. Bagley took home ACC Player and Rookie of the Year honors and averages 21.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.

In Duke's first two NCAA Tournament wins, Bagley has 44 points and 16 rebounds.

The Oregonian reported that the NCAA has "apparently never looked into the Nike-Bagley relationship, but six experts on NCAA compliance told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the parent-coaches paid to run their kids' club basketball teams could be a breach of amateurism rules."

The Oregonian's report is the latest in a string of stories about the money that flows freely in support of amateur college basketball.

The first blow to the sport came in September, when a federal investigation revealed hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks being funneled to influence recruits.

In a Yahoo Sports report last month, documents from the federal probe showed more than two dozen players and their relatives possibly received a wide range of impermissible benefits, from meals to five-figure payments.

Bagley’s name was not included in that list, although others with links to Duke, NC State and UNC were.

In September, the Justice Department arrested 10 people, including assistant coaches from Arizona, Southern California, Auburn and Oklahoma State.

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