According to lawsuit filed in Montgomery County court, a sports agent and an AAU coach furnished NBA star and former Kansas State All-American Michael Beasley with a variety of benefits over the course of his teenage years and while he was at Kansas State.
Michael Beasley Lawsuit Alleges Improper Benefits From Agent, Coach
Michael Beasley allegedly received improper benefits from an agent and AAU coach, beginning as a 13 year-old and continuing through his college basketball career. This according to a lawsuit Beasley filed against his former agent Joel Bell.
The Washington Post broke the story on Wednesday and has the full lawsuit available for perusal here. Broadly speaking, the suit “contends that Bell’s relationship with Malone and payments to Beasley’s mother were ‘intended, ultimately, improperly to induce Beasley into executing a player agent agreement without competition from other agents.’
If found guilty, the agent and coach could be in violation of federal laws.
NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes from receiving any inducement from agents. The Sports Agent Responsibility and Trust Act, a federal law passed by Congress in 2004, prohibits “providing anything of value to a student-athlete or anyone associated with the student-athlete before the student-athlete enters into an agency contract, including any consideration in the form of a loan, or acting in the capacity of a guarantor or co-guarantor for any debt.”
What’s more, the allegations could have an aftershock effect at Kansas State, the school that was apparently playing an ineligible athlete. Beasley was an All-American during his one year in Manhattan, Kansas playing for the Wildcats. It’s important to note that Beasley’s suit comes in response to an initial lawsuit filed by Bell, who alleges that Beasley breached his contract and denied payments to the agent.
In the end, it’s too early to tell how this will play out, but given the allegations levied, it’s sure to elicit interest from NCAA and federal investigators, shedding even more light on the sordid state of grassroots basketball in this country. We’ll update as more news emerges.
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