Gambling on NCAA sports events by players and coaches is becoming a serious problem, according to sports editorial writers across the USA, with University of Washington basketball coach Rick Neuheisel winning $12,000 in his neighbourhood March Madness betting pool and FSU quarterback Adrian McPherson rumoured to be $8000 in debt after placing bets with SBG. Neuheisel's excuse is that before the NCAA tournament began last March, an assistant athletic director at Washington e-mailed a memo encouraging everybody on the staff to bet like drunken sailors.
Last year, a Florida basketball player named Teddy Dupay was declared ineligible for gambling. In the past decade, there have been basketball point-shaving scandals at Northwestern and Arizona State.
The Palm Beach Post suggests that perhaps a culture that tacitly condones star athletes indulging themselves until completely out of control may be more to blame than gambling in itself.
“Until the McPherson case, Florida State had a reputation for running an effective compliance program, and NCAA officials had lauded its anti-gambling counseling. A 976-page report released by law-enforcement investigators last spring suggests that the praise was unwarranted. The report paints an unflattering picture of FSU coaches and administrators who heard rumors of Mr. McPherson's problems early last year but looked the other way. Robert Minnix, FSU's associate athletic director for compliance, conducted three interviews without taking notes, then declared that the rumors led to a 'dead end.'
Major college athletics projects a culture of denial and permissiveness that enables self-destruction. FSU officials saw a 19-year-old who wore $400 suits and drove a late-model car, yet never worried enough to find out how that was possible. The jury deadlocked 5-1 on Mr. McPherson. The guilty verdict on Florida State for enabling is already in.”@@@
Last year, a Florida basketball player named Teddy Dupay was declared ineligible for gambling. In the past decade, there have been basketball point-shaving scandals at Northwestern and Arizona State.
The Palm Beach Post suggests that perhaps a culture that tacitly condones star athletes indulging themselves until completely out of control may be more to blame than gambling in itself.
“Until the McPherson case, Florida State had a reputation for running an effective compliance program, and NCAA officials had lauded its anti-gambling counseling. A 976-page report released by law-enforcement investigators last spring suggests that the praise was unwarranted. The report paints an unflattering picture of FSU coaches and administrators who heard rumors of Mr. McPherson's problems early last year but looked the other way. Robert Minnix, FSU's associate athletic director for compliance, conducted three interviews without taking notes, then declared that the rumors led to a 'dead end.'
Major college athletics projects a culture of denial and permissiveness that enables self-destruction. FSU officials saw a 19-year-old who wore $400 suits and drove a late-model car, yet never worried enough to find out how that was possible. The jury deadlocked 5-1 on Mr. McPherson. The guilty verdict on Florida State for enabling is already in.”@@@
