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Maryland received a pair of subpoenas, one in the spring and one in the summer, regarding the ongoing FBI investigation into college basketball.
The university’s name first surfaced in these investigations on Feb. 23, when Diamond Stone was among several players named in documents released by Yahoo Sports regarding players taking payments from agency ASM Sports. According to the documents, Stone, who played one season at Maryland, received $14,303 from the agency, which was run by former NBA agent Andy Miller and his associate, Christian Dawkins.
Here’s the statement released by Maryland on Friday morning:
On March 15, 2018 and June 29, 2018, the University received grand jury subpoenas for documents related to the ongoing federal investigation of college basketball. The University complied with the subpoenas by providing responsive records. None of the responsive records shows evidence of any violations of applicable laws or NCAA bylaws by University coaches, staff or players. The University has cooperated and will continue to cooperate fully with the ongoing federal investigation.
As Maryland outlines in its statement, the subpoenas do not point to any particular violations or broken laws on Maryland’s part. They just seem to be follow-ups in the cases of two student-athletes connected to the school in one way or another.
One asks for “any documents, including communications, regarding or relating to former Maryland student athlete [redacted], including but not limited to documents reflecting or regarding any improper payments or benefits provided to [redacted], [redacted’s] family or a representative of [redacted] or [redacted’s] family.”
It’s pretty clear here that the “[redacted]” is Stone. He was the only former Maryland student-athlete named in the investigation.
The same subpoena asks for the same documents as they relate to Dawkins and Terps assistant Orlando “Bino” Ranson. Ranson was Stone’s lead recruiter before he signed with Maryland.
The final request on the subpoena asks for “any investigative file maintained by Maryland regarding allegations of possible or potential misconduct by Ranson, including any documents and/or communications regarding any alleged violation of NCAA rules and/or the terms of Ranson’s contract with Maryland.”
The second subpoena is dated June 21, and asked for “any documents, including communications, regarding or related to the recruitment, eligibility and/or amateur status of Silvio De Sousa.”
De Sousa got roped into the federal investigation on April 10, when Adidas executive James Gatto was accused of paying at least $20,000 to De Sousa’s family. Maryland was in the running for De Sousa up until he signed with Kansas, and he enrolled early and played 20 games in 2018.
Both subpoenas included court dates—the latter on Tuesday, July 3—but Maryland officials apparently provided enough records and information to avoid appearing in front of the grand jury.