Betting On College Sports - March Madness Betting Scandals
Ending Gambling in college sports has long been the target of several organizations, sponsors of major tournaments and government bodies not the least of them. The reasons for the attempts are obvious; amateur athletes have a much greater temptation when it comes to gambling than athletes at the professional level. In the major leagues, athletes are (for the most part) compensated well enough that they are not lured by large bribes in order to shave points and receive a payout from a book keeping operation. College athletes, on the other hand, are not paid. Many face the additional fact that they may not make it into the major leagues at all, and thus the offer of a large bribe can prove irresistible. While the case might seem like scare tactics to many, the fact is that there have been several well-publicized scandals that centered around athletes taking bribes in order to throw a game or a tournament and help the money line along. Here are a few of the scandals that rocked NCAA.
Arizona State: The most recent of the scandals took place in 1994, but most sources indicate that it was not uncovered until 1997. An on campus bookmaker, Benny Silman, talked two men’s basketball players (Stevin Smith and Isaac Burton) into shaving points so that the Sun Devils did not cover the spread in the final four games of the season. Silman plead guilty to the charges and served four year in a federal penitentiary. He also indicated that organized crime was involved in the scandal, keeping him in longer than he originally intended. Four other people were charged in the case. Today, many sources credit legal outfits in Las Vegas for blowing the whistle on the operation when they realized how heavy betting was on the Sun Devils, but the length of time in between the incident and the charges has to make one wonder about the altruistic motives. Nevertheless, the case remains one of the most notorious in gambling in college sports.
Boston College: During the ‘78/79 season, the Lucchese crime syndicate in New York was able to gain some money by coercing players on the Boston College men’s basketball team to shave points. Henry Hill, later a notorious whistle blower, set up the scheme in cooperation with a man he had met in prison, who was able to work with players Rick Kuhn and Ernie Cobb, who was a star with the team. It was estimated that the three players involved (which also included some guy named Sweeney) earned $10,000 each off the scheme. Rick Kuhn was sentenced to ten years in prison, but served a little over two.
Tulane: In 1985, John Williams of Tulane was arrested for fixing the spread against opponents Memphis State, Southern Mississippi and Virginia Tech. His charges ended in a mistrial, and Williams went on to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers for several seasons.
Northwestern: Players Dion Lee and Dewey Williams were arrested for sports bribery in March of 1998, although they were not players at the time. Arrests also included players from other colleges who accepted bets from the two men. Lee was sentenced to one month in prison and two years probation for his role in the affair.
It is important to note that these are only the publicized incidents of gambling involving players and point-shaving schemes in NCAA basketball in the last few years. It is a certainty that more scandals have occurred, in which the participants have not been caught. There are also some important dates for college sports betting legislation to make note of.
