Neuheisel gambles with his future by betting on hoops
By Dennis Dodd | SportsLine.com Senior Writer Follow Dennis
National Feature | Notes
To hear Bill Saum tell it, what's happening at Washington is the mother of all NCAA gambling cases.
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| Rick Neuheisel finds himself in trouble again. (Getty Images) |
The Seattle Times has reported Neuheisel was being investigated by the NCAA and Pac-10 for betting $5,000 on Maryland in the 2002 basketball tournament and winning $20,000.
Sorry to use the Rose Bowl reference, but we'd thought we'd throw Slick Rick one last thorny flower. The feeling is that Neuheisel isn't going to be coaching in any Rose Bowls any time soon. Perhaps not coaching at all.
Saum is the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities, -- the heart, the soul, the guts of the campaign to keep NCAA sports from turning into professional wrestling. When asked if he has ever heard of a worse case involving a coach and so much money, Saum replied: "I'm not familiar with one."
Because, as mentioned, those adults are supposed to know better, especially adults making $1.2 million per year.
"The Infractions Committee has told us that the athletic department members should be treated harsher than student-athletes, because they should be held to a higher standard," Saum said.
Because Neuheisel apparently didn't know better, he might lose his job. Washington hadn't reported a violation pending an investigation, Saum said Thursday morning. But you can bet it will. Already Washington athletic director Barbara Hedges said of Neuheisel's actions, "You can't minimize this. The university will take this very seriously."
Saum directed a reporter to the NCAA website that spells out precedent set by staff members involved in gambling activities.
"There is nothing," he said, "that quite equals this."
"I never in my wildest dreams imagined I was doing anything to jeopardize my employment," Neuheisel told the Seattle Times.
Pleading ignorance to the rules has become a pattern of behavior for Neuheisel. When that doesn't work, lying seems to be a fallback maneuver. Earlier this year Neuheisel said he hadn't interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers when it was discovered, oops, he really had.
When interviewed by the NCAA in an earlier case regarding recruiting violations, Neuheisel told investigators he was trying to "be creative" in his recruiting.
The NCAA eventually suspended Neuheisel through May 31 from making off-campus recruiting visits as part of the penalties. Less than a week after that suspension ended, Neuheisel faces substantially more serious charges.
Gambling is the NCAA's capital murder charge. Everyone from Division III to the Final Four knows that. Keeping the slimy specter of gambling out of amateur athletics is the only thing that keeps NCAA sports legitimate.
It is the reason UNLV football coach John Robinson receives regular updates from Las Vegas casinos if his players are recognized on gaming floors. It is the reason gambling scandals at Arizona State, Boston College and Northwestern cut a wide swath. Forget, for a moment, the kids who threw games or made bets. The scandals ruined the careers of innocent players and cost innocent coaches their jobs.
It is the reason the misdemeanor trial of former Florida State quarterback Adrian McPherson is being covered by Court TV this week.
Even if convicted there likely won't be any jail time for McPherson. That's not the point. McPherson's lawyer, Grady Irvin, is basically trying to save his client from any gambling charges that would end his NCAA eligibility.
It's amazing, then, that in this current climate Neuheisel would throw down on a bet what a lot of us don't make in a month. You think $5,000 wasn't much for a guy making $1.2 mil? The Average Joe making $40,000 per year would have had to wager $167 of the family's March budget on basketball games. Put in perspective, that's a healthy chunk.
Don't take our word for it -- ask Saum.
"If a student-athlete or coach put a dollar in a pool it would be a violation," Saum said, "but the penalty would not be significant. If a significant amount of money were bet, the penalty would be significant."
Asked if Neuheisel's wager was considered significant, Saum said, "It appears that it is."
Even if Neuheisel was not aware of recent NCAA scandals, it is not unreasonable to suggest he should be aware of his organization's own rulebook, the NCAA Manual. Bylaw 10.3 states: " ... staff members of the athletics department of a member institution ... shall not knowingly ... participate in any gambling activity that involves intercollegiate athletics ..."
The manual further states that "appropriate disciplinary or corrective action," includes "termination of the coaching contract ..."
Golf nassaus are one thing. Even a friendly game of poker with the fellas. Neuheisel reportedly went in on the bet with a four-man "team," friends who made the wager at what he called a "pizza-and-beer gathering." The format was familiar for anyone who has ever played an office pool. Teams were "bid" upon. The better the team (like Maryland), the higher the price because it was more likely that team would have success in the tournament and win the bettors money.
What makes this burgeoning scandal so unbelievable is when it happened. Florida State football might be hanging by a thread, depending on the testimony in the McPherson case. Compliance director Bob Minnix already has been criticized for not taking notes when he interviewed sources early on when McPherson's alleged betting actions were discussed. That could be in violation of state open records laws.
Bowden went so far as to tell authorities that former players told him that McPherson threw the North Carolina State game last season. Bowden later said he could not recall who told him and no evidence has been uncovered that McPherson threw the game.
But consider the implications of a gambling scandal. Arizona State basketball is just now starting to climb out of the muck started nine years ago when Stevin Smith shaved points.
Forget gambling altogether for a moment. This is the latest example of big-time coaches losing all perspective (and reason) when showered with power and money. All Mike Price had to do to keep his job was not party with strippers. Larry Eustachy could still be earning $900,000 a year by keeping to this one tenet: Don't get drunk with college students at frat houses.
All Neuheisel had to do was keep his wallet in his pocket in order to keep his job.
Apparently, that's complicated stuff.
Adding to the gravity of the Neuheisel situation is that the NCAA didn't discover this through some newspaper or TV investigation. Up to 80 percent of NCAA investigations start that way.
"It started on our end," Saum said, which suggests someone tipped off the NCAA. It also suggests that the tip didn't exactly come from a good friend.
That would fit a pattern. Neuheisel was censured in January by his own professional organization. The American Football Coaches Association put Neuheisel on probation after he did admit guilt in some of the previously mentioned recruiting violations at Colorado.
"He showed the committee very little remorse for his actions and decisions," AFCA ethics committee chairman Fisher DeBerry said in January. "... the committee had real concern for his attitude and potential negative impact on other coaches."
Negative impact, even probation, is not what Neuheisel has to worry about. It's whether or not he makes it to the fall pulling a University of Washington paycheck after pulling down the program.
