University of San Diego releases identity of former coach referred to in college admissions scheme
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – University of San Diego released a new statement regarding the admissions bribery scheme and the identify the former coach referred to by the government.
USD said they can now disclose the identity of the coach involved as former men’s head basketball coach Lamont Smith, who left USD in March 2018.
According to university officials USD was subject to a confidentiality order that restricted their ability to identify the former coach last week.
“Based on our review of the information available to us to date and on what the government has told us, the only USD employees, students or applicants involved in the alleged wrongdoing are the three people identified by the government: Lamont Smith and two applicants, one is a current student and one declined admission,” the university said in a statement.
Smith left the university under fire in March 2018 after he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence. The case was subsequently dropped, and Smith left USD to join the University of Texas-El Paso men’s basketball team as an assistant coach. Smith resigned from his UTEP position Wednesday afternoon.
“We continue to have no reason to believe that any other employees, students or applicants were involved in or aware of any wrongdoing. Certainly, if different or new information comes to our attention, either through the results of the investigation or otherwise, we will take appropriate action to respond,” USD officials explained in a statement.
Fifty people were charged on March 12th in a scheme in which wealthy parents allegedly bribed college coaches and other insiders to get their children into some of the nation’s most elite universities.
Parents of prospective students conspired with a college entrance consultant to beat the system and ensure their students were admitted or had a better chance to be admitted to certain colleges or universities, including Yale, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Wake Forest and others.
