Did Duke Pay Zion Williamson Or RJ Barrett To Pick Them Over Kentucky?
Did Duke pay Zion Williamson or RJ Barrett to pick them over Kentucky?
That is what some people are wondering after the explosive allegation recently made by former NBA star Gilbert Arenas.
The fireworks started when Stephen A. Smith posted a video on Instagram doing a deep dive into a new California bill that would allow college athletes to get paid through endorsements.
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Arenas responded in the comments of that video accusing Duke of paying at least two players $200,000 in the last five years to choose the Blue Devils over Kentucky.
Gilbert Arenas in the IG comments saying players get paid to go to Duke over Kentucky pic.twitter.com/VsXPme5OW4
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) September 13, 2019
The obvious question in light of that accusation is: who are the two players?
Although Arenas declined to name names, one would assume that if Duke and Kentucky were fighting for these players, they had to be highly touted recruits.
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Who were the most highly touted recruits to commit to Duke in the last 5 years?
There have been a lot: Williamson, Barrett, Cam Reddish, Tre Jones, Marvin Bagley III, Wendall Carter, Jayson Tatum, Harry Giles III, Frank Jackson, Brandon Ingram, Tyus Jones and Jahlik Okafor – just to name a few.
Was it actually any of those guys? It is impossible to know for sure without anyone aware of the situation opting to name names.
What we do know for sure, however, is that this isn’t the first time we heard allegations of Duke paying players.
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Recently, Michael Avenatti has claimed that he has evidence of Nike employees being willing to make a $35,000 payment to Williamson.
Prior to that, Avenatti claimed to have evidence of Nike paying off Williamson’s mother.
While none of these allegations have ever been proven, it is getting increasingly hard to ignore the fact that there have been multiple ones made – all of which sound very similar to one another.
There is definitely smoke here.
Is there fire?
Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
Magetti hinted the same thing a couple years ago. Jay Billis is always pushing how college players should be payed , makes sense k and the alumni know it’s happening.