College basketball's 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

College basketball’s 30 biggest cheaters that tainted the game

ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 23: Rick Pitino, Head Coach of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens react during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Play Off game 3 between Panathinaikos Opap Athens v Real Madrid at Olympic Sports Center Athens on April 23, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/EB via Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 10: Emanuel Richardson exits the Federal Courthouse in Manhattan on October 10, 2017 in New York City. Several people associated with NCAA Basketball have been charged as part of a corruption ring. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) /

14. Emanuel “Book” Richardson

We could go with a number of cheaters from the current FBI probe, but we’ll go with Emanuel “Book” Richardson as a representative of the scandal. Richardson was one of four coaches who were arrested for their ties to agent Christian Dawkins.

The whole investigation started when the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Pittsburgh based financier Marty Blazer for his role in various Ponzi schemes. As part of a plea deal, Blazer turned into an FBI informant and blew the lid off a wide web of underworld dealings.

A lot of these dealings involved agent Christian Dawkins, who funneled money to assistant coaches like Richardson in exchange for steering players to his management company after they left school. Shoe companies like Adidas were also involved, paying money off the books to guide players to schools that wore their apparel.

This scandal has exposed a ton of wrongdoing in the college basketball world, and there are plenty of cheaters poised to go down in flames as a result. The NCAA has already hinted that several schools have committed major rules violations, with penalties still to come.

Once the fallout from this scandal occurs, there will likely be a bigger name than Richardson higher up on future versions of this list.