Ex-Colorado athletics employee admitted to misusing Nike funds year before arrest - USA Today

The former University of Colorado athletics department employee who is facing theft and embezzlement charges in Boulder admitted to misusing Nike funds at the school four months before his hiring as the chief financial officer of USA Swimming in December 2025, according to an internal university audit report obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

The former employee, Cory Randall Hilliard, 54, is facing three criminal counts related to his administration of the university’s Nike Elite program, which provides athletic department employees with funds to purchase Nike merchandise.

“I did it. I admit it,” Hilliard told the university’s audit department on July 30, 2025, according to the internal audit report.

The audit report was dated Aug. 7, 2025. Hilliard left his job at the university the same month, according to his LinkedIn account. He later was hired as the CFO of USA Swimming in December 2025. He then resigned from USA Swimming after his arrest on these charges in August 2026, one year after the audit report.

Hilliard is accused of overspending his Nike gear allotment by $9,500 from fiscal year 2022 through the fiscal year ending in June 2025. Any admission to the university’s audit department is not the same as pleading guilty in court, which he has not done. He is due to be arraigned in Boulder in October, where he is expected to enter a plea then. His attorney declined comment when reached by USA TODAY Sports.

The university’s internal report noted how each full-time athletics department employee at Colorado is allotted a certain amount of funds to spend on Nike gear in an online account. This employment perk is part of the university’s sponsorship contract with Nike and included an allotment of $621 to $625 annually for employees like Hilliard from 2022-25.

Hilliard served as administrator of this Nike program and could adjust his allocation for the Nike Elite account at any time "without anyone else knowing," according to the report. He overspent his allotment every year from 2022 to 2025, including by $6,011 in 2025 and $2,304 in 2024, the report stated. The report said Hilliard’s actions resulted in the loss of $9,501.50, “which could have been used for CU sports teams.”

“When questioned if he spent over his allotted $625, he said he did, but it was to purchase Christmas gifts, such as bags and luggage, for the staff within the CU Department of Athletics,” the report said. “When IA (internal audit staff) informed Hilliard that the orders for Nike items purchased appeared to be mostly for the men’s items in the same size, either large or extra-large, and the men’s pants with a size 36-32, Hilliard admitted that he had purchased those items for himself. Hilliard said he could not put a percentage on the total number of items he purchased for himself versus the items he purchased for the staff. Hilliard said he did not have permission to exceed his allotted amount of $625.”

The report noted that from Aug. 21, 2024 to June 27, 2025, Hilliard made 59 orders through his Nike Elite account valued at $6,636 wholesale, all of which were sent to his home address except one. That's $6,011 more than his allotted amount of $625 for fiscal 2025.

“When asked why he overspent his allotted amount, Hilliard said he did so because he had access to the excess Nike Elite funds, and it was an error and a misjudgment by him,” the report stated. “Hilliard then said, ‘I did it. I admit it.’ Hilliard appeared to be remorseful for his actions and told IA that he would be willing to be taxed on the funds over his allotted amount.”

The internal audit investigation happened after then-Colorado athletic director Rick George notified the audit department about possible misconduct involving Hilliard in July 2025. At the time, Hilliard had worked at the university for nearly two decades and helped run the athletics department budget.

University police conducted its own independent investigation, which led to criminal charges in August 2026 for theft, embezzlement of public property and first-degree official misconduct.

It's not clear why USA Swimming didn't know about the internal audit dated nearly four months before his hiring was announced by the organization in December 2025. After his arrest in August 2026, a spokeswoman for USA Swimming said Hilliard was immediately placed on leave without access to any company data or financial controls. The spokeswoman said the organization was conducting an investigation. He resigned the next day.

The spokeswoman told USA TODAY Sports Sept. 14 that there was "nothing new" to report on the case.

Hilliard's hiring at USA Swimming came the same year that the organization had a separate hiring issue with its CEO. The organization announced in February 2025 that Delaware athletic director Chrissi Rawak had been hired for that job. But then Rawak withdrew from it less than 10 days later when the organization learned of a complaint against her at the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

USA Swimming is the national governing body for competitive swimming in the U.S. The organization said then the issue with Rawak was not disclosed to the organization during its "rigorous vetting process" of her.

Colorado has had a contract with Nike since 1995 and discovered the misappropriated funds during a review of its deal with the company, according to the audit report. That deal was worth $4.75 million in product allotment in fiscal 2025, $90,000 of which was allocated for the Nike Elite program.

The school signed a new five-year deal with Nike in September 2025. Colorado's relationship with the company also played a role in getting head football coach Deion Sanders to return to the Nike fold in 2023 after years of estrangement.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com