Likely NBA top pick Zion Williamson referenced at NCAA trial
NEW YORK (AP) — The player widely projected to be the NBA draft’s top overall pick came up at a college basketball corruption trial as jurors heard a recording of a Clemson coach who seemed eager for help recruiting him.
The charismatic Zion Williamson played one year at Duke before entering the draft scheduled for June.
His name surfaced as recorded conversations were played Thursday at an aspiring agent and an amateur basketball coach’s criminal trial.
Prosecutors say the defendants teamed up with undercover FBI agents and a corrupt financial adviser to decide which college coaches should get money to steer players their way.
In a July 2017 recording, defendant Christian Dawkins was heard telling Clemson assistant coach Steve Smith he could help get Williamson’s family what it needed if Williamson attended Clemson.
