'I was no rogue actor.' Former Texas men's tennis coach Michael Center admits he helped a kid fake his way into school and took a bag of cash. But he tells jon_wertheim that plenty of others in Austin knew exactly what was going on:
Center says that, grudgingly, he began to court donors. And he scored an early success when the father of a former player indicated a willingness to contribute $5 million toward a new tennis center in exchange for naming rights. Before the 2014–15 school year, all of UT’s coaches gathered at Patterson’s home for a kickoff dinner. The university’s then president, Bill Powers, stood and cited Center by name for the $5 million donation he was on the verge of closing.
Center recalls being confused. The basketball program had, as he puts it, “infinitely more juice” than tennis. What’s more, Schaepe supposedly had Bay Area connections to Kevin Durant. Why wouldn’t the family lean on Durant, the most prominent player in Longhorns history, for help? But Center agreed to entertain the offer. “Special favors,” he says, “happen all the time in college sports.”
In October 2014, the student—then a high school senior—met with Longhorns basketball coach Rick Barnes to discuss becoming a manager, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. In March ’15, Barnes took the head job at Tennessee and was replaced by Shaka Smart. Center wondered whether this might squelch the plans. It did not. Fox, says Center, quickly assured him that the basketball program “[still] really wanted this to happen.
And as planned, Schaepe became a big donor. In July 2015, he contributed $100,000 to UT tennis. Shortly afterward, Schaepe and Chiu gave additional six-figure gifts to the communications school. Schaepe also donated stock later valued at $625,000 to Singer’s foundation. Center says Singer called him again in 2016. He had another client seeking admission at Texas. “It was a quick call,” Center recalls. “I said I had no interest.” In early October ’18, Singer called again, cryptically, wanting to discuss their “deal” from ’15. Center offhandedly recalled a few of the specifics but said that he was in an airport and that if Singer had more questions, he should email.
A media swarm had gathered outside the courthouse in Austin; when Center emerged, he told them to go watch his team play that night, because that would be far more interesting than anything he had done. At that point Texas had sent Center an email informing him he was being fired from a job that paid him $232,000 annually.
Center was told that his recommended sentence would be 15 to 21 months, provided he pleaded guilty to all charges within 24 hours. Low on both options and funds, he says, Center pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. His sentence consisted of six months in federal prison, one year of supervised release and repayment of $60,000. At sentencing, U.S.
This theory holds if renegade coaches enrich themselves at the expense of the school. It unravels, however, if the schools are part of the scheme. “If [prosecutors] go after the head of the athletic department, at some point they’re undermining their own case,” says Eliason. “If the senior people are in on it, the schools aren’t being defrauded. They’re just playing the game like everyone else.”
Vandemoer recalls that when he mentioned Singer, other members of the athletic department spoke glowingly of him. “He’s a guy you can trust,” Vandemoer remembers Stanford assistant basketball coach Adam Cohen enthusing.
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