Kyle Kuzma's name surfaced in federal court testimony Thursday, and the University of Utah is monitoring developments regarding alleged payments to a person associated with the former Ute basketball player, the school said.
Utah “takes these allegations very seriously,” according to an athletic department news release.
Kuzma, a second-year player for the Los Angeles Lakers, was named in testimony by a former financial adviser in federal court in New York during a criminal trial of three men accused of steering recruits to schools. None of the allegations regarding Kuzma has to do with his recruitment to Utah or other schools.
Munish Sood testified that he worked with another sports agent to provide money to an associate of Kuzma's during the player's Utah career, in the interest of developing a relationship for future business. Sood's testimony was part of a plea agreement that stemmed from charges against him.
In February, Yahoo Sports cited an FBI investigation in reporting that Kuzma’s associate received a $9,500 payment. Kuzma denied knowledge of the payment, saying, “Everything is allegedly whatever.” Ute coach Larry Krystkowiak said at the time, “I know we run a clean program.”
Pac-12 schools Oregon and Arizona are among the basketball programs that have been targeted in the investigation about payments to recruits in violation of NCAA rules.
