Maryland men’s basketball coach Mark Turgeon reiterated Saturday that nobody on his coaching staff has any relationship with the agency alleged to have paid Diamond Stone $14,303 during his one season at Maryland.
Turgeon also said the report, based on financial reports from the ASM agency acquired by federal investigators and released by Yahoo Sports on Friday, did not play a factor in Maryland’s embarrassing 85-61 loss to Michigan on Saturday.
“I was disappointed that a former player was acknowledged in this report,” Turgeon said. “I’ve always prided myself on doing things the right way and I have my whole career. I have absolutely zero relationship with that agent or agency. I wouldn’t know him if he walked into the room today.”
At the time, Andy Miller and his associate, Christian Dawkins, worked at ASM.
Turgeon said the University of Maryland — including university President Wallace Loh, interim athletic director Damon Evans and the compliance office — is conducting an internal review about the report. The program hasn’t been contacted by the NCAA or any outside entity, Turgeon said, but he would cooperate with any investigation.
[Read more: Postgame grades from Maryland men’s basketball’s 85-61 loss to No. 17 Michigan]
Turgeon discussed the matter with his team before practice Friday, guard Anthony Cowan said.
“He told us it had nothing to do with us,” Cowan said. “When he said that, I think everybody kind of shut it out and tried to focus on ourselves.”
The report came months after the FBI announced it arrested several assistant men’s basketball coaches on corruption charges for allegedly accepting payment to push players toward signing with certain shoe companies or agencies.
Those allegations led to Louisville firing head coach Rick Pitino and cast a shadow over the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
The most recent batch of accusations — including ESPN’s report claiming that the FBI caught Arizona coach Sean Miller discussing paying a player $100,000 — was the next step in the federal government’s investigation into the long-rumored dark underbelly of college basketball.
“Whatever number this comes out to, if all the accusations are true and all these things, it’s not good for our game,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “But we’ll evolve and we’ll get better.”
Beilein and Turgeon say they do things “the right way,” and neither have been publicly accused of any transgressions in the federal investigations. To avoid situations like Stone’s, Beilein said, programs must educate their players.
“They have to say no to a Coca-Cola if an agent’s talking to them,” Beilein said. “They also obviously have to say no to money. … You have to educate them so that they know it’s not worth it.”
Stone had no eligibility problems during his 2015-16 season at Maryland, and with him already having turned pro, the NCAA has no jurisdiction over him.