Controversial attorney Michael Avenatti released documents Saturday that he says prove Nike paid the handler of former Arizona star Deandre Ayton $28,000 while giving another $10,000 to Ayton's mother.
Avenatti also alleged that Ayton's family had about $5,000 in travel expenses paid for by credit cards linked to California Supreme, the then-Nike sponsored club that Ayton played for in 2016.
2/2 - Nike should be criminally indicted on well over 200 counts and should also explain why they misled their investors/the SEC. If I'm lying or the docs are not legit, I challenge @nike to issue a stmt claiming no bribes were ever paid. Just Do It Nike!https://t.co/4gi8MQRcQB
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) April 6, 2019
Avenatti, who rose to fame as the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, was charged last month with trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike and bilking settlement funds from a client. Avenatti was representing Gary Franklin, the former California Supreme director who claimed to know that one or more Nike employees had authorized payments to high school stars and their families.
NOTEBOOK: On Avenatti's new claims, Miller's testimony (or not), Green's big day
Prosecutors say Avenatti demanded that Nike pay $1.5 million to his client and even more to himself, his firm and a co-conspirator who has been identified as fellow celebrity attorney Mark Geragos.
Since his arrest, Avenatti has been tweeting what he says is proof of Nike's payments to star high school players and their families, and detailing — without proof — how he says Nike paid the mother of Duke star Zion Williamson.
The latest batch of documents, released by Avenatti Saturday on Twitter, show a $28,000 wire payment to Ayton's handler, Melvin McDonald, occurring in April 2016. The documents also appear to show a $10,000 payment to Ayton's mother in July 2016. The Ayton family travel expenses were listed as being paid in July 2016, but Avenatti's documents say only that the related statements are "forthcoming."
RELATED: 'Ask Deandre Ayton and Nike': Disgraced lawyer Avenatti tweets that company paid ex-Cat's mom
Ayton committed to Nike-sponsored Arizona in September 2016 after earlier favoring Kansas, an Adidas-sponsored program. During the first federal college basketball trial in October, former Adidas consultant T.J. Gassnola testified that he gave a family friend of Ayton's $15,000 the previous winter with hopes of luring the star center to Kansas.
Avenatti's 41-page document dump also purports to show payments to the handler of Brandon McCoy, a former UNLV player and onetime UA recruiting target. The documents show that the handler received $15,000, and McDonald is shown to have received another $29,258 in 2017 while he was listed as the point of contact for Oregon center Bol Bol.
Avenatti's documents are attached to this post. Yahoo had an in-depth summary of what he posted.
UA signee Josh Green had 19 points to lead IMG to a 66-55 win over La Lumiere in the finals of the Geico Nationals on Saturday.
All five of UA's 2019 signees have ended their high school careers with a state or other title: Nico Mannion led Pinnacle to the Arizona 6A title, Christian Koloko helped Sierra Canyon to the California Open Division title, Zeke Nnaji led Hopkins to the Minnesota 4A championship and Terry Armstrong helped Bella Vista win the Grind Session.
