College sports hit hard by gambling in'90s

by Ryan Ernst
THE POST

With the increased attention being drawn to gambling on college sports because of proposed legislation in Congress, more and more information is being exposed in gambling and point-shaving scandals that rocked college sports in the 1990s.

In recent years, what were once allegations and rumors, have transformed into grand jury testimonies and admissions of guilt, as college athletes uncover the truth about ploys to manipulate college athletics for illegal financial gain.

The NCAA and judicial system is becoming aware that such scandals do not always occur where one might expect. Northwestern, a school with a longstanding record of academic excellence, was the scene for two gambling hoaxes in the '90s.

In the third quarter of a 1994 football game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Iowa Hawkeyes, Northwestern running back Dennis Lundy fumbled inside of the 1-yard line. Iowa went on to win the game 49-13, easily covering the six-point spread.

After Lundy was indicted for perjury for lying to a grand jury on the matter, he told a federal judge that he intentionally fumbled the ball in order to have a better chance of winning a $400 bet he had placed against his own team.

The following year Northwestern was once again shaken by a point-shaving scandal involving a student-athlete. This time the fix involved multiple athletes from different sports.

In 1995, Northwestern kicker Kevin Pendergast traveled to Las Vegas and placed a $20,150 wager at Caesar's Palace that the Northwestern basketball team would lose to Michigan by at least 25 1/2 points.

Before placing the bet, Pendergast had arranged with Northwestern basketball players Dewey Williams and Dion Lee to shave points in exchange for money. Pendergast, who was previously a kicker at Notre Dame had been in debt to illegal bookies in Indiana and Illinois before transferring to Northwestern. The players also allegedly shaved points in two other games bet on by Pendergast. All three conspirators were eventually convicted and sent to prison.

Although all three players agreed to cooperate with the FBI and the NCAA in their efforts to warn students against the dangers of gambling, for some student-athletes the message comes too late.

In 1996 Boston College was the setting for a gambling ring of 13 football players, up to five of which are said to have bet against their own team. All 13 players were suspended from the team.

In 1997 two former Arizona State basketball players, Stevin "Hedake" Smith and Isaac Burton, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit sports bribery in a federal investigation of point-shaving at the university.

The investigation found point-shaving in four games during the 1993-94 season. For one of those games, a matchup against PAC-10 rival Washington, Las Vegas Casinos suspended betting on the game after $250,000 in bets caused the line to drop to three points.

In three other instances gamblers won. The Sun Devils beat Oregon and Oregon State but did not cover the spread. They were a 7 1/2-point favorite over USC, but lost by 12.

The only loss for gamblers in the four games came in another game against Washington in which Arizona State missed its first 14 shots but rallied to win 73-55. There have been reports that the players were informed at halftime that the game was under scrutiny.

Indictments were also brought against two Phoenix gamblers who allegedly initiated the fix.