USC assistant basketball coach allegedly received cash in Las Vegas hotel
Southern California associate head coach Tony Bland was indicted as part of a major FBI investigation into alleged corruption in men’s college basketball after he was recorded allegedly taking money in Las Vegas to steer players to a sports agent.
Bland was one of four assistant coaches indicted by the U.S. District Court in New York.
The indictment said Bland met agent Christian Dawkins and an undercover agent in a Las Vegas hotel room on July 29 during a week of AAU tournaments that annually take place throughout the valley.
Bland allegedly was given $13,000 in an envelope by Dawkins and set up meetings with the families of two unidentified USC players. Bland is accused of distributing $9,000 to those families.
The evidence was collected after the FBI set up audio and video recording devices in the hotel room.
Bland played at San Diego State from 2001 to 2003. UNLV coach Marvin Menzies was an assistant on those teams.
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
