A disgraced sports manager sobbed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday as he was sentenced to a year and a day behind bars in the NCAA scandal — remorsefully admitting, “None of this was worth it.”
Christian Dawkins, 26, will now serve a year of additional prison time for bribing college basketball coaches to steer players to become clients of financial managers who funded the kickbacks.
The former sports agent recruiter had already been handed a six-month sentence in a similar trial in March as part of a sweeping federal investigation into corruption in the NCAA.
Dawkins sobbed as he read a statement in court, telling Judge Edgardo Ramos, “This whole thing was stupid.”
“None of this was worth it,” he said, breaking down in tears and taking a moment to collect himself.
“I broke rules and I associated with the wrong people. Nobody forced me to, either,” he added.
Dawkins wore a black coat and plaid pants; his girlfriend and father were in the courtroom for support.
The federal investigation found coaches at some of the country’s top college basketball programs accepted bribes to steer their players toward Adidas-sponsored universities, authorities said.
Former NBA star Chuck Person, the head coach at Auburn University, was busted along with coaches at the University of Arizona and the University of Southern California, as well as two top reps for Adidas.
Lawyers for Dawkins argued he was young and impressionable when he fell into the scheme at age 22.
“Has he learned his lesson? You’ve got to be kidding me, of course he has,” attorney Steven Haney told the court.
The former agent has since become a record executive in Los Angeles, founding a company called Atlantic Records, the court heard.
Prosecutors asked for up to 57 months for Dawkins’ role in the conspiracy, but Ramos knocked that down to 12 months and a day.
“He was not a shrinking violet, he was very much an active participant,” Ramos said.
Dawkins gave no comment after the proceeding, with Haney vowing to appeal and fight the charges.