Alleged Diddy associate arrested on drug charges is a former Syracuse basketball player… Brendan Paul, 25, is detained as police raided rapper’s homes as part of sex trafficking investigation

Brendan Paul, a recently-arrested alleged associate of rapper and producer Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, was previously a walk-on college basketball player at Syracuse University.

Paul, aged 25, was detained by Miami-Dade Police at Opa-Locka Airport in Miami at around 4:30pm on Monday. The same day, federal agents raided Diddy’s homes in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a sex-trafficking investigation.

Soon, the internet found about Paul – who played two years on the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team.

Paul totaled 17 minutes across two seasons – coming off the bench against the likes of Louisville, Virginia, Pittsburgh, and North Carolina among other teams. 

He left Syracuse with just one basket made – a 3-pointer against Pittsburgh on February 26, 2020.

But before that, Paul was a walk-on player on the basketball team at Syracuse University

While with the Orange, Paul was named to the ACC Honor Roll for registering a grade point average of 3.0 or better for the whole academic year. 

In the search of more playing time, he transferred to Fairmount State University in West Virginia.

Reflecting on why he chose the Orange in the first place, Paul told the Times West Virginian that a close bond with former Syracuse player Buddy Boeheim and his father, Jim Boeheim, is what convinced him.

‘I was really, really good friends with Buddy [Boeheim]…he and I created a relationship, and our families created a relationship with each other,’ Paul said. 

‘And that’s what initially had me with the idea of walking-on to Syracuse instead of going to play for a MAC school or around that level. 

‘Ultimately I decided to walk-on because of my relationship with the Boeheim family and my chances of earning a scholarship, which I would have had if I returned my junior year.’

He became friends with Buddy Boeheim in high school – when they both attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire.

Paul had a much better go of things at Fairmount State – but still didn’t dazzle, managing only 51 points, 23 rebounds, 19 assists, and 11 steals in two seasons with the Division II team.

Paul only hit a single shot, this one vs. Pittsburgh, over the course of his short career at ‘Cuse

After playing just 17 minutes in two years, Paul left Syracuse and played at a D-II school in WV

Paul, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio is charged with felony cocaine possession and marijuana possession. Paul is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami on two $2,500 bonds. 

The 25-year-old was referred to as Diddy’s ‘drug mule’ in a $30million lawsuit Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones filed against Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs.

The complaint, one of five against Cobs since November, alleged he was involved in ‘acquir[ing] and distribut[ing] Mr Combs drugs and guns’.

Whether Paul’s arrest was connected to allegations in the lawsuit, or to the raids on Diddy’s properties, was not confirmed.

Jones claimed in the lawsuit that he ‘personally witnessed’ Paul ‘acquire and distribute’ drugs to Combs and his entourage, and transport or intend to transport drugs in baggage on flights.

He wrote the flights were between Los Angeles, Miami, Virginia, the Caribbean, and London three times in December 2022, April 2023 and November 2023.