By Sara Germano 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (November 20, 2018).

Fallout from a federal probe into alleged corruption in college basketball entered a new chapter Monday as a former University of Louisville player sued Adidas America Inc. on allegations that the sports-clothing maker violated federal racketeering laws by paying families of high-profile recruits.

The player, former high school basketball star Brian Bowen Jr., alleges that the U.S. arm of German shoe company Adidas AG, its executives and consultants broke the law in their efforts to influence the families of top high school basketball players and encourage them to attend Adidas-sponsored universities.

His lawsuit follows the convictions of an Adidas executive, an Adidas consultant and a sports agent on federal criminal fraud charges last month related to payments they made to families of prominent players, including to the father of Mr. Bowen Jr.

Unlike the criminal case, which argued that the universities were the victims of the Adidas executive's activities, Mr. Bowen Jr.'s civil racketeering suit posits a new argument in the debate regarding college basketball and amateurism rules: that Adidas caused "foreseeable economic injury" to the player by allegedly arranging payments to the player's family and thus invalidating his eligibility to play in college.

"Because of this criminal scheme and through no fault of their own, Brian and other student athletes lost their eligibility to play college basketball at any school, lost their eligibility to receive financial aid necessary to continue their education, and lost the singular opportunity to develop physically and athletically into NBA draft picks at an elite NCAA Division I basketball program," said Mr. Bowen Jr.'s law firm, the McLeod Law Group, in a statement.

A spokeswoman for Adidas said the company believed the civil-suit allegations had no merit and that the company was committed to ethical and fair business practices.

The sports-clothing maker wasn't accused of wrongdoing in the federal criminal probe, but said in a statement after the guilty verdict in the federal case that the company has "strengthened our internal processes and controls and remain committed to ethical and fair business practices."

Mr. Bowen Jr.'s father, Brian Bowen Sr., testified in the criminal trial that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars without his son's knowledge in exchange for steering him to the University of Louisville, an Adidas-sponsored school. Mr. Bowen Sr. wasn't charged in the case in exchange for his testimony, and isn't named as a defendant in the civil case.

After losing his eligibility to play at Louisville, as well as any other National Collegiate Athletic Association program, Mr. Bowen Jr. moved to Australia earlier this year to play professional basketball for the Sydney Kings.

Adidas, along with top competitors Nike Inc. and Under Armour Inc., are prolific sponsors of athletic programs at U.S. universities, in hopes of driving demand for their products among young athletes and to position their clothes and shoes in high-profile tournaments in basketball and football, especially.

In the most prominent college sponsorship agreements, athletic companies enter into contracts with university athletic departments, rather than specific sports or teams.

Through his lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, Mr. Bowen Jr. seeks to prohibit Adidas, its associates and affiliates from "engaging in sponsorship of NCAA Division I men's basketball programs," as well as seeking damages, relief, attorney's fees and other costs for the plaintiff.

Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 20, 2018 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)

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