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COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY
Point Shaving and Game
Fixing In College Sports
SPMT 332 - Spring 2016
Christian Duchnak
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When it comes to sports in general the people want excitement and they want a close
game between both teams or even between individuals. During my time period of playing sports
growing up I would always see the parents on the sideline cheering us on and basically being our
second coach. But what I didn’t seem to understand are the factors off the field being point-
shaving schemes and how they were being conducted. Once reading about point shaving
scandals I truly disbelieved in any college and professional sports.
Point-shaving scandals have been around since the beginning of point spreads and they
will surely continue to be common in the future. Point shaving is when athletes conspire with
gamblers to ensure a team won’t cover a given point spread. Usually the scandals involve college
athletes who can be swayed by gifts or a few thousand dollars. In most cases they are convinced
under the appearance that they aren’t being asked to throw games, but just harmlessly
manipulating the point spread. Games in which a participating athlete’s team is a favorite are the
best candidates. For example, if a basketball team is favored by 12 points, the player or players
in on the fix would play in such a manner to make sure they won, but by less than 12 points.
(Killinger, p1)
There would be movies and television shows that demonstrate point shaving schemes and
how ugly these situations can lead to suspension, termination, and even death. In this paper there
will be different types of college point shaving schemes throughout history and how these
scandals affected the players and the schools they represented.
Basketball is the common sport for point shaving schemes to occur and in 1950 the best
team in college basketball wasn’t Duke or North Carolina, but the City College of New York. At
that time the NCAA tournaments were considered somewhat equal in stature and held at different
times, so it was possible for a team to play in both. City College of New York did win both in
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1950, something no other team would do in the history of the sport. However in 1951 three
CCNY’ star players were arrested for manipulating point spreads during that historic season.
Throughout this process more players were found guilty of the point shaving scheme, and this
scandal engrossed seven different schools and affected the scores of 86 games. This situation
permanently removed CCNY as a national basketball power and had a detrimental effect on New
York City college basketball for decades to come. (Killinger, p1)
In 1994 Arizona State University were a part of a shaving scandal involving basketball
players Stevin Smith and Isaac Burton. Smith who was an all time leading scorer for his team
was being paid $80,000 to affect the point spread of four games. Smith realized it would be
difficult to do it all alone, so he brought his teammate Burton on the bandwagon and agreed to
pay him $4,300 over two games. What gave them away was a casino manager noticed a wager of
$1 million on Washington for their game with Arizona State University on March 5, 1994.
(Killinger, p1)
Point shaving and Game Fixing in sports usually end up hurting players and ruining their
own reputation. These college athletes mentioned earlier really believed that this small act of
cheating was a good way to receive money and have no consequences. Gambling on sports is
illegal and these star athletes have to realize that although they are still winning games, but at a
certain pace isn’t worth receiving a lump sum of cash over being terminated from the league.
Another point shaving scandal mentioned are the University of San Diego basketball
team being involved in point shaving. Brandon Johnson the all time leading scorer and assist
maker in Toreros history was involved in a 10-man federal conspiracy ring that included drug
sales and illegal betting on games, including an attempt to compromise games during the 2009-
2010 seasons.(Norlander, p1)
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This is why point shaving scandals are a serious matter in college athletics even if they do
still win. The players that take the risk put themselves in a situation where they either don’t get
caught and keep their earnings or they get caught and risk their chances of losing scholarships
and also risk on being arrested.
All universities are potential targets for point-shaving schemes, even ones with stellar
academic reputations like Northwestern in Evanston, Ill. During the 1994-1995 season, Kevin
Pendergast, a former standout kicker for the Notre Dame football team, reached out to Kenneth
Lee, a guard on the Northwestern basketball team. Pendergast was deeply in debt from gambling
and other activities, and had received a tip from a friend that Lee would be receptive to shaving
points. The two produced a scheme with Lee agreeing to recruit other players to help with their
plan. Northwestern at the time was coming off a 5-22 season, and were heavy underdogs for
