As part of a yearlong scheme in which he defrauded the parents of a youth player out of $50,000, former Indians basketball player Todd Leary promised one parent he would get his son elite training, form and coach the boy’s AAU team and be hired by Purdue coach Matt Painter, court documents allege.
From 2024 January until 2025 in February Leary received a series of checks for $48,900 from the victim, but he never followed through on his promises or returned the money, according to a probable cause statement filed in the case. A senior Purdue basketball administrative assistant told police, “Coach Painter never hired Todd Leary to work at Purdue,” the documents state.
Leary was arrested by Carmel police and booked into the Hamilton County Jail on 10 Level 6 felonies, including five counts of fraud and five counts of theft.
Bail was set at $25,000 for 4 at an initial hearing the next day in Hamilton Superior Court. Leary posted bond on Oct. 10, according to court records. October 23 Leary made a bid to leave the state.
IndyStar reached out to Leary and his attorney, but did not hear back.
Leary, 54, was a star at Lawrence North High School in 1989. winning the state championship, and from 1989-1994 played at IU under coach Bob Knight, including 1992 the team’s performance in the final four.
Throughout the 13-month ordeal, one parent told police he was frustrated with Leary, who rarely coached his son or gave him lessons. He also said the AAU team was never formed and the money Leary intended to get from Purdue to pay back the parents, which Leary said was $15,000 for Coach Painter to train the players, never materialized.
May 8 A Carmel Police Department officer took a victim report from Leary, which the officer said he “believes to be a reliable source of information, a victim of a crime, and I have no information that calls into question his credibility,” according to the probable cause statement.
The parents told the police that on March 30 Leary texted him that “the AAU team is not going to happen,” according to court documents.
“I keep messing up everything I’m trying to do,” Leary said, according to the probable cause statement. “I’ll pay you back the full $50,000… ($20,000) by May 1. I’ll get the remaining $30,000 back, giving you 5k a month for 6 months.”
Leary never returned the money and “has since stopped returning (the man’s) calls and texts,” the documents state.
In total, Leary paid $48,900 in checks from her parents, including $11,300 in personal loans that Leary agreed to repay but did not, according to the probable cause statement. The parents also paid $3,000 for their son’s personal coaching, of which Leary had nine sessions over 13 months, but promised three to four a month. The total amount paid to Leary for the fraudulent AAU team was $34,600, according to court documents.
“Todd continued to encourage the victim to believe that the amounts paid were possible,” the affidavit said, “and he simply needed time to recover money from the people he paid.”
A review of Leary’s bank account shows most of the checks have been cashed, police said.
Purdue denies having any discussions with Leary
It was in 2024. in January when his father heard Leary promote basketball training services for his company, Myjumpshot.com, on a local radio show where he was a frequent guest.
Leary’s company offers a “remote image analysis” for $100, a personal 3-hour analysis for $250 plus Leary’s travel fees, if applicable, and a $300 monthly membership that includes one remote shooting session each week, according to the myjumpshot.com website.
“Coach Leary prides himself on analyzing these and other factors and creating a shot that is easy to repeat and practice,” according to the website. “The process is simple, just upload a clip of your jump shot (see instructional video below) and Coach Leary will personally analyze the clip and provide you with a written report and a video conference to discuss the results.
After hearing Leary on the radio, a parent contacted him about tutoring for (his) son. From there, Leary repeatedly asked his father for money for various reasons, according to court documents.
Most of these financial requests were basketball-related, including personal training, gym time and facility rental costs for the AAU team Leary was developing, and the salary of an assistant coach for that AAU team.
Leary requested other financial assistance for personal needs, including money for attorney fees for his son’s legal concerns and help when his dad became ill in 2024. in December, according to a probable cause statement. Leary told the father that “his father was very sick, in intensive care and likely not going to survive,” the affidavit said, and he needed money to fly him and his two sons to Florida.
Throughout the relationship, Leary continued to promise his parents that he would pay back the money they lent him.
In order to do this, in 2024 in October, Leary told the father that “he had been in contact with Matt Painter at Purdue and had been hired by Matt to coach Purdue athletes,” according to the probable cause statement.
A month later, Leary contacted his father and “said he had made a deal with Purdue University to purchase the NOAH firing system.
“Todd said Purdue was going to sell it to him for $4,800. He asked a parent to lend him the money and said he would use the system to help his son and other players on the AAU team improve their shooting accuracy,” court documents state. The parents wrote Leary a check for $4,800.
Police spoke with Purdue’s top basketball administrative assistant, who “said Purdue does not sell equipment through private sales. She said there is a process for selling items. She also said Purdue never sold any equipment to Todd Leary, nor discussed with him the sale of the NOAH system,” according to the probable cause statement.
When Leary was taken into custody, one of the parents did not return the money from Leary, who had cut off all contact by then, the documents state.
The case is not the first time Leary has run into trouble with the law. in 2010 he was arrested outside Assembly Hall an hour before he was set to call the IU game as the color analyst.
Leary was charged with 17 felonies, including conspiracy to embezzle insurance escrow funds. Court documents revealed Leary once worked for a title insurance broker who pleaded guilty to multiple charges in a $2.7 million scheme.
Leary spent 365 days in prison and seems to have turned his life around. in 2017 IndyStar followed Leary as he fed the homeless on the streets of Indy and talked about past mistakes and changes he’s made in his life.
Pretrial hearings on Leary’s charges are scheduled for Nov. 17, and a jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 15.
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Contact her by email. by mail: dbenbow@indystar.com
This article originally appeared in the Indianapolis Star: Former Indiana player Todd Leary said Purdue’s Matt Painter recruited him, court documents show.