Black Market: my life inside the seedy underbelly of college basketball

In an extract from his new book, Merl Code explains how he found himself in the middle of a corruption scandal that rocked the NCAA

When the FBI shocked the college basketball world with its 2017 announcement of charges in a corruption scandal, I was caught in the cross fire.

That morning, I was in bed. It was a Tuesday. September 26. Early, around 6.15am. My wife, Candance, who has a PhD in occupational therapy and was pregnant with my son August at the time, and I had just returned from a surprise trip to Canada for her birthday. She was in the bathroom, getting ready to go to work. I heard somebody knocking at the door. It was still dark outside. Nobody in their right mind would be knocking that early in the morning. I jumped up out of the bed, still half asleep, and rushed downstairs to see what all the commotion was about.

Receiving payment from a sports team to participate.

Receiving funds or money to offset training expenses.

Accepting prize money based on performance/finish at a competition.

Being represented or marketed by a professional sports agent.

Promoting or endorsing a commercial product or service.

This is an edited excerpt from Black Market: An Insider's Journey into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball by Merl Code (C) 2022 by Merl Code, used with permission from HarperCollins/Hanover Square Press.