In his defense against federal bribery and fraud charges, UA assistant coach Book Richardson has hired two attorneys experienced in defending white collar crime.
David F. Axelrod and Craig Mordock accompanied Richardson to a New York federal court Tuesday, when a judge set Richardson's bond at $100,000 and assigned a Nov. 9 preliminary hearing.
Richardson was one of five figures appearing before the judge, along with USC assistant Tony Bland, Auburn assistant Chuck Person, Adidas rep Merl Code and financial advisor Rashan Michel.
"It’s an important thing not to rush to judgment,” Axelrod told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. “It’s a tragedy for a truly decent human being."
Mordock told Jon Gold, who is reporting the story for the Star: "Book is not guilty today, not guilty two weeks ago and not guilty tomorrow."
Richardson shook Zagoria's hand before entering the courtroom and appeared together with Bland before judge Katharine Parker. Richardson hugged Bland afterward.
Colorado's Tad Boyle says he has had to change his recruiting focus when cheating becomes a potential factor with a recruit.
“Every single year it happens multiple occasions, and it’s been that way for the seven-plus years I’ve been at Colorado,” Boyle told Yahoo! Sports. “Every single year, multiple kids. We have to make those decisions pretty quickly because if you get too far down the line, you’re wasting a lot of time with a kid that’s not going to end up at Colorado.”
Jon Wilner wonders how the Pac-12 Network will cover the allegations involving Arizona and USC on Thursday in San Francisco at what is normally a festive Pac-12 media day.
