Former Louisville recruit Brian Bowen asks SCOTUS to weigh in on adidas lawsuit

Six years after former University of Louisville men's basketball recruit Brian Bowen II filed a federal racketeering suit against adidas and six of its associates in a college basketball bribery scandal, the former high-profile prospect is now asking for the U.S. Supreme Court to take a look at the case.

According to the latest filing, Bowen's attorneys claim the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decision in fall 2023 conflicts with a ruling previously made by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 which recognizes student-athletes "have a business or property interest in their NCAA eligibility" — in other words, that college athletics is a business for non-professional athletes.

Bowen II's petition argues that SCOTUS hearing the case "would provide clarity by recognizing the business and property interests of student-athletes."

In the 2018 case, Bowen II sued adidas under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), claiming lost earnings under RICO and alleging the scandal destroyed his NCAA eligibility and "stripped him of the valuable athletic benefits he secured in exchange for committing his athletic labor to adidas's flagship school, the University of Louisville," according to court documents.

A Feb. 20 petition filed by Bowen II argues that the Supreme Court's 2021 unanimous decision and the application of it to this case is "of exceptional importance to the over 500,000 student athletes presently participating in NCAA athletics nationwide and to the athletic recruiting ability of the thousands of NCAA member institution."

What happened with Brian Bowen II's case previously?

Bowen II was the highest-profile prospect in Rick Pitino’s last recruiting class at Louisville following his commitment in Summer 2017.

That September, the FBI arrested 10 people on charges related to corruption in college basketball recruiting. Bowen was suspended amid allegations that his signing was induced by a promise of $100,000, which violated NCAA rules.

He later transferred to South Carolina, but was ruled ineligible. Pitino was fired by Louisville.

During a federal trial, Bowen's father, Brian Bowen Sr., testified he was paid money for rent and in exchange for his son's commitment to the Cardinals by then-Louisville assistant coach Kenny Johnson and by at least one adidas employee. The court later found two adidas employees and an aspiring sports agent guilty on fraud and corruption charges.

Following the FBI's investigation into college basketball recruiting, Bowen II and his South Carolina attorneys filed suit against the company, former adidas employees James Gatto and Christopher Rivers, former adidas independent contractor Meryl Code, former financial advisor Munish Sood, and Christian Dawkins and Thomas Gassnola, who were affiliated with several amateur and high school programs in November 2018.

That suit alleged the international sportswear company and several adidas employees "robbed Brian of control over his education and career."

U.S. District Court of South Carolina first heard the case against the shoemaker. U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Anderson Jr. dismissed the lawsuit in South Carolina in May 2021, denying the allegations met RICO claims.

"First and foremost, the Court does not doubt that Bowen Jr.’s life was upended by the revelation of payments to his father and the University of Louisville’s decision to withhold him from NCAA competition," Anderson wrote in his ruling. "Nor does the Court ignore the prosecution of certain individuals involved in making those payments to Bowen Jr.’s father. But while Plaintiff devotes most of his arguments to these undisputed facts, they are not relevant to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act’s statutory standing requirements."

Bowen appealed to the Fourth Circuit, finding in a 2-1 ruling to apply the same legal standards as the lower court.

In her October 2023 opinion, Judge Allison Jones Rushing wrote Bowen's case did not demonstrate "an injury" because "the benefits he lost were not promised in the scholarship agreement. To the contrary, Bowen received everything to which his scholarship entitled him."

Bowen petitioned for a rehearing with all the judges and was denied.

That racketeering lawsuit was dismissed by federal appeals judges who said his claim of lost earnings was not deemed an "injury to his business or property."

What happened to Brian Bowen Sr.?

On May 31, 2017, Bowen Sr. accepted a cash offer for $100,000 to be paid in four installments for his son to attend U of L, per court documents. The Courier Journal later reported those payments were to be funneled through an AAU program which Code, the independent adidas contractor, was affiliated.

Adidas filed a countersuit against Bowen Sr. in 2020 alleging Bowen worked with adidas employees to give money to families of high school basketball prospects without the knowledge of others in the company.

In 2020, The Courier Journal reported: "the lawsuit says Bowen Sr. and his co-conspirators, former adidas associate T.J. Gassnola and financial adviser Munish Sood, hurt the company by putting together a scheme to misappropriate Adidas funds, 'including the misuse of Adidas’s money to steer Bowen Jr. to (Louisville).'"

"Bowen Sr. had previously admitted to accepting cash from a number of sources in exchange for his son's place on specific high school and AAU teams as well as Louisville," court documents state.

Bowen Sr. has maintained his son was unaware of the transactions.

Bowen II turned pro in 2018. He was not selected in the 2019 NBA Draft, but played for the Minnesota Timberwolves during a 2023 summer league.

Lucas Aulbach contributed to this report.

Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise and investigative sports reporter. She can be reached at skuzydym@courier-journal.com. Follow her at @stephkuzy.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Former Louisville recruit Brain Bowen asks Supreme Court to hear adidas case.