New Court Documents Suggest Kenny Johnson Didn't Pay Brian Bowen Sr.

Documents recently filed in the Bowen vs. Adidas lawsuit suggest a $1,300 cash payment was never made by former Louisville assistant Kenny Johnson.

(Photo of Kenny Johnson via Chris Humphrey)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As the current NCAA infractions case against the Louisville men's basketball program slowly inches towards its resolve, a lawsuit revolving around the matter might have disproved one of the allegations against the University.

According to court documents filed last month in the lawsuit pitting former Louisville recruit Brian Bowen II against Adidas, it suggests that former Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson never made cash payments to Bowen's father - Brian Bowen Sr.

"No other witness corroborated [REDACTED] claim that Johnson paid him during the summer of 2017," the documents said. It also went on to mention that Johnson's bank statements from August 2017 "do not contain evidence of a payment on August 23, 2017" - the date at which Bowen Sr. alleged a $1,300 cash payment took place.

Additionally, the documents also mention that Bowen Sr. gave conflicting accounts regarding the payment. In Sept. of 2017, he told the FBI both in an interview and a "followup call" in that he "hadn't received any money from Kenny Johnson". However, he "gave a starkly different account" at trial according to the documents.

Text messages between Bowen Sr. and Johnson in July & August of 2017, according to the documents, merely consisted of Bowen II's living situation and role of the team, and never mentioned any money.

Back in May 2020, the men's basketball program received a Notice of Allegations that consisted of one Level I and three Level II allegations, stemming from the recruitment of Bowen II and the Adidas pay-for-play scheme uncovered by the FBI and Southern District of New York in late 2017.

In one of the Level II allegations, the Notice of Allegations states that Johnson is to have allegedly "violated the NCAA principles of ethical conduct” by “knowingly provided a $1,300 extra benefit" to Bowen Sr.

The NOA mainly revolves around alleged $100,000 and $25,000 payments made by agent Christian Dawkins through Adidas representatives Jim Gatto and Merl Code. Former Louisville assistant coach Jordan Fair and head coach Rick Pitino, along with Johnson, were also implicated in the NOA. All three were fired in October of 2017, along with longtime athletic director Tom Jurich.

The NCAA announced this past February that the infractions case was getting referred to the Independent Accountability Resolution Process, or IARP. Last week, they announced that "decisions in all six (IARP) cases are expected within the next 12 months".

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