Former U. of San Diego Basketball Players and Coach Are Indicted in Bribery Scandal

April 11, 2011, 7:46 pm

Two former University of San Diego men’s basketball players and a former assistant coach there were among 10 people indicted on charges that they conspired to commit sports bribery and operate an illegal bookmaking service. The indictment, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI on Monday, alleges that the conspirators bribed players to alter the outcome of games and then bet on those games, according to a report in The San Diego Union-Tribune. In a statement, university officials said they were notified of the allegations Monday morning and were fully cooperating with the investigation.

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old nassau’67

Some day I’d like to read an article stating “In the last academic year, no NCAA “student-athletes” or any of their coaches were involved in a scandal.”
Fat Chance.
tenuregonebad

Right after the headline that reads “Last year no politician, CEO – Board of Trustee member, powerful alumni were involved in a scandal.” Where there is money, power or prestige there will be scandals – in fact, if people really knew what went on behind the scenes in some of these institutions there would be a lot more scandal.
11351990

Go Torreros. USD is supposed to be a moral catholic institution. These days with priests abusing children it seems the Church is one of the most immoral of institutions.
22079340

A sad day for that young man and the entire USD community. However, the words of Casablanca’s Colonel Renault come to mind: “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”

An October 2010 study from Ithaca College found that the so-called “free ride” college student-athletes get isn’t so free. The AVERAGE student-athlete ends up paying nearly $3000 for school related expenses NOT covered by their scholarships. (http://www.businessinsider.com/turns-out-that-free-ride-college-athletes-get-isnt-a-free-ride-after-all-2010-10).

The NCAA—which is nothing more than a co-conspirator with colleges in exploiting (pimping?) KIDS—rakes in countless millions of dollars; coaches get multi-million dollar contracts for requiring their teams to wear Nikes, Adidas, etc.; institutional revenues (and US News rankings!) increase as more students boost application rates and enroll to be part of the Cameron Crazies, or to cheer on the Irish, Trojans, or Buckeyes. However, student-athletes, who, as former Harvard president Derek Bok observed, receive a different, inferior quality of education, are disciplined for selling their own personal items (or worse) for the money they need to make it through! Talk about hypocrisy.

This is not an excuse for the kind of behavior described. However, as the article in Business Insider on the Ithaca study observed, “Now that we know college athletes must cover school expenses, all while practicing daily, traveling to games, and studying for classes, shouldn’t we expect them to seek out dirty money?”

This unfortunate situation should make educators think again about the fact that the US is the only nation in the world that relies on children (no matter how tall, large, or fast they may be, they are often minors) for their entertainment. As Bok also points out: colleges and universities will compromise their most basic values for money. University presidents don’t have the courage to challenge the status quo, so it is up to the faculty to take a stand. Otherwise, it may take Congress to investigate the countless of millions of dollars our young people are generating for so-called non-profit institutions through BCS bowl games, March Madness, and more.

Tom Brown
former Dean, Saint Mary’s College of California
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