In wake of Wendell Carter Jr. report, how could two people spend $106 at Longhorn Steakhouse?

On Friday, Pat Forde and Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports released a bombshell report tying many prominent names in college basketball to disgraced sports agency ASM Sports, including former North Carolina State guard Dennis Smith Jr., Michigan State forward Miles Bridges, and Duke’s Wendell Carter Jr. 

According to an expense report for Christian Dawkins, a business associate of former ASM agent Andy Miller, he had a $106.36 lunch with Kylia Carter—mother of the Blue Devils’ forward—at LongHorn Steakhouse in February 2016. I won't speculate about whether this meal is an indication of further corruption with Carter, as there is no evidence of this. 

But I am bewildered by the fact that two people managed to spend $106.36 on lunch at a LongHorn Steakhouse—it isn't exactly known for being upscale or pricey.  According to head coach Mike Krzyzewski, Carter's father left the meal after a few minutes, and Carter's mother said they didn't eat anything.   

Using the lunch menu provided on LongHorn Steakhouse’s website, let’s take a look at just how Carter and Dawkins could have managed to drop so much money on their infamous lunch.

First of all, let’s subtract the 8 percent sales tax and an assumed 18 percent gratuity. This leaves us with $83.46 in funds actually spent on food and beverages.

• Perhaps the pair was feeling extravagant, or as extravagant as one can feel in an eatery with a pseudo-Western décor and animal heads mounted on the walls. For our sake, let’s assume they each ordered the most expensive item on the LongHorn SteakHouse menu, Flo’s Filet and Lobster Tail, coming in at $28.99 an entrée. This leaves us with $25.48 to spend.
• The surf and turf option comes with a side of choice and a salad, so it’s unlikely that Dawkins or Carter would have still been hungry enough to want an appetizer or dessert.
• With Flo’s Filet and Lobster Tail presumably leaving the two full, the only logical way to spend the remaining $25.48 is on drinks. LongHorn Steakhouse has a surprisingly extensive selection of margaritas, sangrias, beer, wine, and mixed drinks. But the most expensive drink offered on their menu is a $9.49 Patron Platinum margarita. The beer and wine is too cheap for the pair to have ordered (unless they knocked back three drinks each). If Dawkins and Carter split three sangrias or margaritas between themselves, the $25.48 seems plausible.

After my examination of the LongHorn Steakhouse menu, I now believe the idea of Dawkins and Carter spending $106.36 on a lunch at a low-end steakhouse is not completely unreasonable.

Although they needed to attempt to dine like royalty to reach the total, it is certainly within the realm of possibility.