Merl Code is going to federal prison soon. He said he doesn’t know exactly when, or where, and in a philosophical sense he doesn’t even know why. But he’s looking at up to nine months behind bars simply for being a cog in the college basketball underground economy.
“[I was] the bogeyman,” Code told Dan Wetzel and me Monday on our podcast, the College Football Enquirer. “But I wasn’t the bogeyman [federal investigators] wanted. They wanted high-profile names. They wanted Sean Miller. They wanted Will Wade. They wanted Rick Pitino.”
Code did an hourlong interview with us to discuss his riveting new book, Black Market: An Insider’s Journey Into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball, which pulls back the curtain on how the sport operates. Sports Illustrated obtained an advance copy of the work, which includes revelations regarding arrangements made for superstars like Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis, and more detail on the infamous six-figure deal for Brian Bowen to attend Louisville. It’s new information on an old business model, how the sport operated in the margins while staying ahead of NCAA investigators and mocking the frayed concept of amateurism.
