A day after setting a news conference to discuss a "major high school/college basketball scandal perpetrated by Nike" — and then being arrested for allegedly trying to extort Nike — attorney Michael Avenatti indicated Tuesday that Deandre Ayton's mother was given payments from the shoe company.
Ask DeAndre Ayton and Nike about the cash payments to his mother and others. Nike’s attempt at diversion and cover-up will fail miserably once prosecutors realize they have been played by Nike and their lawyers at Boies. This reaches the highest levels of Nike.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 26, 2019
It isn't clear from Avenatti's tweet when Ayton's mother took the alleged payments.
Avenatti, who rose to fame as the attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against President Trump, was charged Monday with trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike and bilking settlement funds from a client. He also faces a bank fraud charge. He was released on $300,000 bond after a brief court appearance in New York.
Avenatti was representing a Los Angeles travel ball coach who claimed to know that one or more Nike employees had authorized payments to high school stars and their families. 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.
ESPN identified the travel ball coach as Gary Franklin Sr. Ayton, former Wildcat Solomon Hill and current UA players Brandon Williams and Devonaire Doutrive are among the Arizona Wildcats who have played for Franklin's Cal Supreme team, which was sponsored by Nike until recently.
Ayton was a member of Cal Supreme when committed to the UA in September 2016.
Ayton's commitment to Arizona, a Nike school, surprised many. He had been widely expected to choose Kansas, an Adidas school. And in October, Adidas shoe consultant T.J. Gassnola testified that he paid a family friend of Ayton's $15,000 in an effort to get him to choose the Jayhawks.
It wasn't the first time reports of a payment to Ayton made headlines. UA coach Sean Miller has repeatedly disputed a February 2018 ESPN report that he discussed paying Ayton, saying he has “never knowingly violated NCAA rules” while at Arizona. An outside counsel hired by the UA to investigate the basketball program believed Ayton did not take a bribe. At the time, attorney Paul Kelly said the reports of Ayton being involved in a pay-for-play scheme were "false and unfounded." Miller, in a statement read to media more than a year ago, said the ESPN report "sullied the name of a tremendous young man, Deandre Ayton."
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The Phoenix Suns took Ayton No. 1 overall in last year's draft; shortly before then, Ayton surprised the basketball world again by signing an endorsement deal with Puma.
Avenatti said he is confident he will be "fully exonerated." If convicted of the charges in California and New York, Avenatti could face up to nearly 100 years in prison.
Avenatti went on to tweet on Tuesday that Nike has not been cooperating with federal authorities, and that Oregon center Bol Bol and his handlers had received large sums of money from Nike. Oregon is also a Nike program.
Bol Bol and his handlers also received large sums from Nike. The receipts are clear as day. A lot of people at Nike will have to account for their criminal conduct, starting with Carlton DeBose & moving higher up. The diversion charade they orchestrated against me will be exposed
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) March 26, 2019
Bol, another Cal Supreme product, was considering Arizona but dropped the Wildcats from his list of finalists after the college basketball investigation became public in September 2017. Another Cal Supreme player, Shareef O'Neal, flipped from Arizona to UCLA during that time.
