It blighted Arizona State University and resulted in suspensions and loss of scholarships. It caused Tulane University’s basketball program to shut down for five years. It forged a link in the public eye between Boston College basketball and the Mafia that still lingers in some circles, even after more than 20 years.
It sparked an investigation into Northwestern University athletics that led to jail time for several of the school’s athletes. Twice.
College sports gambling is a nationwide phenomenon, according to FBI Special Agent Randy Sealby. And Gary Gray, the University of Oregon’s athletics office director of compliance, says it could happen at the University of Oregon.

“I don’t have any reason to suggest that U of O isn’t exposed to the same pressures and influences as any other university,” Gray said. “I’d be a little naive to suggest otherwise.”
Sealby, who works in the FBI’s Chicago bureau, said that sports gambling of some type takes place on almost every campus.
“At just about every university, there is gambling activity,” said Sealby, who was one of the agents involved in the investigation of Northwestern University, in which 11 people were indicted.
Sealby recently spoke with “a cross-section of the Greek system and the athletes” at a Midwest university about sports gambling. The audience included one member from each fraternity and sorority on campus, as well as a member of each of the college’s intercollegiate sports.
“I asked them who had gambled since coming into college, and every single one of them raised their hand,” Sealby said. “It was unanimous that they have done it or will do it.”
With the recent success and national exposure of the Ducks football team, plus the men’s basketball team’s appearance in the NCAA tournament last year and the women’s basketball team’s back-to-back Pacific-10 championships, the University of Oregon’s sports programs have certainly moved into a new strata of national attention. Such a high level of recognition could attract increased interest from sports gamblers, as well, according to both Gray and Sealby.
“I think that any time a program gets more exposure in the general public, I think the possibility of more people taking notice increases,” Gray said. “They’re always noticed more when they’re on television.”
Sealby’s assessment was similar.
“I think any time you get more exposure, you’re more at risk for something like (becoming the target of sports gamblers),” said Sealby. “All you have to have is a line or point spread in a local paper.”
Some assessments of the situation differ, however. Greg Graham, an assistant coach for the University of Oregon’s men’s basketball team, said he feels Eugene is a safe environment for athletes and that gambling is not an issue for athletes at the University.
“I think they’re aware of it, but it’s not really something they have to deal with,” said Graham. “I just don’t feel we’re in that type of environment.”
Graham said that he does not know of any University of Oregon athlete ever being approached by gamblers or becoming involved in sports gambling.
According to Gray and Bill Clever, the assistant director for compliance, a point-shaving incident may have taken place at McArthur court in the mid-1990s, although it did not involve University of Oregon athletes.
During the 1993-94 basketball season, two members of the Arizona State men’s basketball team were involved in point shaving during several games. Gray and Clever said that a game at McArthur Court between the Ducks and Arizona State University fell into the time frame of the point shaving, and the final score of the game may have been affected.
However, point shaving “certainly was not evident,” Clever said.
“We’re talking about 18- to 22-year-old kids,” Clever said. “Mistakes are part of the game. So it’s hard to point to something and say, ‘hey, he meant to do that.’”
In the past decade, there have been numerous incidents of athletes betting on their own teams and at least one survey indicating more than two-thirds of student athletes have gambled since entering college.
In response to the recent incidents and findings, the National Collegiate Athletics Association has made sports wagering one of its primary concerns, said Jane Jankowski, the NCAA’s assistant director for public relations.
“The NCAA considers (collegiate sports wagering) to be a serious problem,” she said.
The NCAA has rules prohibiting all sports gambling by student athletes, campus and conference athletics personnel and NCAA employees.
New bylaws adopted by the NCAA, enacted in August 2000, include a zero-tolerance policy for student-athletes who “engage in activities designed to influence the outcome of an intercollegiate contest or beat a point spread or bet either legally or illegally on their own team,” according to press releases from the NCAA.
The association has also started a program called ‘Don’t Bet on It,’ with a 22-page guide for athletes, as well as a series of TV advertisements.
The FBI projected that in 1995, $2.5 billion was illegally gambled on the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, second only to the amount gambled on the Super Bowl.