CBS SportsLine wire reports
Oct. 24, 1998
CHICAGO -- To the more than 60,000 people at Iowa's Kinnick Stadium on a grey autumn afternoon in 1994, it was a key play in a resounding victory for the home team. Certainly no one understood that it would resonate four years later.
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A teammate, defensive Rodney Ray, knew Lundy had a gambling habit and complained openly that Lundy fumbled intentionally. A coach overheard Ray's accusation and an internal investigation was launched, the findings of which were quickly passed on to federal authorities.
NOW, FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS are scrutinizing at least two 1994 football games for possible point-shaving by Northwestern players, and charges could be handed down within weeks, according to a source familiar with the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A federal investigation of sports betting at Northwestern already has resulted in guilty pleas from six people, including three former student-athletes, and revealed a point-shaving scheme in basketball. Former basketball players have admitted arranging the fix prior to games and accepting cash in return for helping ensure Northwestern lost by more than the point spread.
While the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office will only say they're still investigating sports betting at Northwestern, the source confirmed the probe is now focusing on a football season just one year removed from Northwestern's stunning Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl trip.
"I don't think any of us should be surprised. This (investigation) has been going on for four years now,'' Northwestern athletic director Rick Taylor said. "None of us thought it could happen and anybody who tells you that this should be forseen is so naive.''
According to the source, the activities of Brian Ballarini, a former Northwestern quarterback turned campus bookie, "were central to what was going on'' in the alleged football scheme.
A HIGH
SCHOOL BUDDY OF BALLARINI'S, Michael Stemberk, revealed in his plea agreement with prosecutors that Ballarini shared "inside information'' on the Northwestern football team with him, so that Stemberk could place large bets on at least two 1994 Wildcats' games.
Northwestern athletic director Rick Taylor isn't surprised by the direction the gambling investigation has taken.
(AP)
Ballarini has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the federal investigation, so declined to discuss his alleged role in football betting. However, he recently noted of his campus bookmaking that he was around other student-athletes "15 hours a day,'' making it "extremely easy to do what you wanted to do.''
In the 1994 Iowa game, with Northwestern a 6-point underdog, Lundy fumbled twice, once as the Wildcats were driving in the second quarter and again in the third quarter at the goal line. A video tape of the game shows Lundy apparently went untouched on both occasions.
Authorities will not say if Lundy is a target of their investigation. He did not return telephone messages left at his home in Tampa, Fla.
"I just want to play as hard as I can and not have any regrets,'' Lundy said before his last two college games.
HE DIDN'T PLAY IN THE SEASON'S FINAL game against Penn State after being confronted by school officials and admitting betting on college games other than Northwestern's. In an ironic twist, his suspension meant a start for freshman running back Darnell Autry, who went on to break Lundy's career school rushing record.
The 1994 Wildcats were 3-3-1 before losing their last four games, including the 49-13 defeat to Iowa.
William Saum, an agent and gambling representative for the NCAA, said such schemes represent one of the NCAA's greatest fears.
"The Northwestern case was organized by a recent student-athlete and that makes it scarier that it wasn't pulled off by professional criminals,'' he said.
Ballarini, 25, of Chicago, said he didn't even know what a point spread was when he arrived in Evanston. But he was a quick study. He admits to running a gambling operation at Northwestern in which he helped about 15 people, including Northwestern athletes, bet on college and professional games. Ballarini was on the 1994 football team but was injured and didn't play that season.
BALLARINI SAID RECENTLY HE FELT like a scapegoat for other student-athletes who gambled regularly. He said he was forced to leave school in December 1994 or face a student judicial system that could have expelled him.
Northwestern officials "knew that there should have been at least a half-dozen other student-athletes right behind me following me out the door,'' he said.
Northwestern football coach Gary Barnett has refused to comment on allegations surrounding his 1994 team. But Taylor, who became athletic director at Northwestern in 1994 and presided over the dramatic revival of the school's football program, was outraged by Ballarini's comments. He insisted the administration did all it could before turning the investigation over to federal authorities.