CCNY Point Shaving Scandal
Encyclopedia
The CCNY point shaving scandal of 1950-1951 was a college basketball
point shaving
gambling scandal
that involved seven schools in all, with four in Greater New York
and three in the Midwest. However, most of the key players in the scandal were players at City College of New York
.
(NCAA) and National Invitation Tournament
(NIT) champion City College of New York
(CCNY). CCNY had won the 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
and the 1950 National Invitation Tournament
the previous spring over Bradley University
. The scandal involved the Beavers and at least six other schools, including four in the New York City
area; CCNY, along with Manhattan College
, New York University
and Long Island University
. It spread out of New York City to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois
, the University of Kentucky
and the University of Toledo
. The scandal would spread to 33 players and involve the world of organized crime
. CCNY was eventually banned from playing at Madison Square Garden
, although the coach, Nat Holman
, would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
Frank Hogan
arrested seven men in January 1951, including All-America forward Ed Warner
, center Ed Roman, and guard Al Roth, the three stars of the CCNY 1950 National Championship team, after setting up an undercover
, or "sting", operation.
Jack Molinas
would not be caught in 1951, but after he was suspended for gambling by the NBA, he would be linked back to the 1951 scandal by betting on his then college team Columbia University
.
1952-53 season.
Additionally, many collegiate administrators felt the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden, and New York City in general, lent itself to corruption. Largely due to fears of a repeat occurrence, the NCAA Tournament
(which soon supplanted the NIT as college basketball's premier postseason tournament) would not return to metropolitan New York
until 1982, when the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
on Long Island
hosted early-round games of the 1982 tournament
. The Final Four wouldn't return to the New York area until the 1996 Final Four
was held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey
.
While Kentucky received a one-season ban on all play, it was the only program that was not permanently hobbled by the scandal. To date, Bradley is the only other affected school to have appeared in a final major media poll. However, none of the programs would suffer more than CCNY and LIU. Following the discovery of several other irregularities, CCNY deemphasized its athletic program and dropped down to what is now Division III. LIU shut down its entire athletic program from 1951 to 1957, and didn't return to Division I until the 1980s.
, Black Canyon Productions, and HBO Sports made a documentary film about the CCNY Point Shaving Scandal, City Dump: The Story of the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal, that appeared on HBO.
The story is also detailed in The First Basket
, the first and most comprehensive documentary on the history of Jews and basketball.
College basketball
College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....
point shaving
Point shaving
In organized sports, point shaving is a type of match fixing where the perpetrators try to prevent a team from covering a published point spread. Unlike other forms of match fixing, sports betting invariably motivates point shaving. A point shaving scheme generally involves a sports gambler and one...
gambling scandal
Match fixing
In organised sports, match fixing, game fixing, race fixing, or sports fixing occurs as a match is played to a completely or partially pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. Where the sporting competition in question is a race then the incident is referred to as...
that involved seven schools in all, with four in Greater New York
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
and three in the Midwest. However, most of the key players in the scandal were players at City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
.
Background
The scandal involved the National Collegiate Athletic AssociationNational Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) and National Invitation Tournament
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...
(NIT) champion City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
(CCNY). CCNY had won the 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 23, 1950, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City, New York...
and the 1950 National Invitation Tournament
1950 National Invitation Tournament
The 1950 National Invitation Tournament was the 1950 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. For the only time in history, the same school won both the NIT and NCAA tournaments as CCNY took both championships, beating Bradley in both finals...
the previous spring over Bradley University
Bradley Braves men's basketball
The Bradley Braves men's basketball team represents Bradley University, located in Peoria, Illinois, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They currently compete in the Missouri Valley Conference. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2006, reaching the...
. The scandal involved the Beavers and at least six other schools, including four in the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
area; CCNY, along with Manhattan College
Manhattan College
Manhattan College is a Roman Catholic liberal arts college in the Lasallian tradition in New York City, United States. Despite the college's name, it is no longer located in Manhattan but in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, roughly 10 miles north of Midtown. Manhattan College offers...
, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. It spread out of New York City to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, the University of Kentucky
Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
and the University of Toledo
Toledo Rockets
The Toledo Rockets are the athletic teams that represent the University of Toledo. The Rockets are a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team in the National Collegiate Athletic Association and play in the Mid-American Conference . The school's colors are midnight blue and gold.Toledo's...
. The scandal would spread to 33 players and involve the world of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. CCNY was eventually banned from playing at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
, although the coach, Nat Holman
Nat Holman
Nat Holman was one of the early pro basketball players and one of the game's most important innovators.-Career:...
, would be cleared of any wrongdoing.
How the scandal first came to light
The scandal first came to light when New York City District AttorneyDistrict attorney
In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...
Frank Hogan
Frank Hogan
Frank Smithwick Hogan was an American lawyer and politician from New York. Dubbed "Mr. Integrity" due to his perceived honesty and incorruptibility, he was D.A. of New York County for more than 30 years.-Life and career:...
arrested seven men in January 1951, including All-America forward Ed Warner
Ed Warner (basketball)
Edward L. Warner was an American college basketball player. He was one of the stars of the 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team, the only team to win both the NCAA tournament and the National Invitation Tournament in the same year...
, center Ed Roman, and guard Al Roth, the three stars of the CCNY 1950 National Championship team, after setting up an undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
, or "sting", operation.
Jack Molinas
Jack Molinas
Jacob "Jack" L. Molinas was an American professional basketball player and one of the key figures in the point shaving scandal that almost destroyed NCAA basketball...
would not be caught in 1951, but after he was suspended for gambling by the NBA, he would be linked back to the 1951 scandal by betting on his then college team Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Aftermath
The scandal had long-lasting effects for some of the individuals involved, as well as college basketball itself. Coaches, long after the scandal was over, would warn their players what could happen to their lives if they chose to make some "fast money" now. In the wake of the scandal, the NCAA canceled the Kentucky Wildcats'Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball
The Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team, representing the University of Kentucky, is the winningest in the history of college basketball, both in all-time wins and all-time winning percentage. Kentucky's all-time record currently stands at 2058–647...
1952-53 season.
Additionally, many collegiate administrators felt the atmosphere at Madison Square Garden, and New York City in general, lent itself to corruption. Largely due to fears of a repeat occurrence, the NCAA Tournament
NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single-elimination tournament held each spring in the United States, featuring 68 college basketball teams, to determine the national championship in the top tier of college basketball...
(which soon supplanted the NIT as college basketball's premier postseason tournament) would not return to metropolitan New York
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
until 1982, when the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
The Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Uniondale, New York, United States. Home to the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League, the Coliseum is located approximately east of New York City on Long Island...
on Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
hosted early-round games of the 1982 tournament
1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1982 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 48 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 11, 1982, and ended with the championship game on March 29 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
. The Final Four wouldn't return to the New York area until the 1996 Final Four
1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1996, and ended with the championship game on April 1 at Continental Airlines Arena in...
was held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford, New Jersey
East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
.
While Kentucky received a one-season ban on all play, it was the only program that was not permanently hobbled by the scandal. To date, Bradley is the only other affected school to have appeared in a final major media poll. However, none of the programs would suffer more than CCNY and LIU. Following the discovery of several other irregularities, CCNY deemphasized its athletic program and dropped down to what is now Division III. LIU shut down its entire athletic program from 1951 to 1957, and didn't return to Division I until the 1980s.
City Dump: The Story of the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal
In 1998, George Roy and Steven Hilliard SternSteven Hilliard Stern
Steven Hilliard Stern is a Canadian television and documentary director, producer and writer....
, Black Canyon Productions, and HBO Sports made a documentary film about the CCNY Point Shaving Scandal, City Dump: The Story of the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal, that appeared on HBO.
The story is also detailed in The First Basket
The First Basket
The First Basket is a 2008 documentary film on professional basketball's influence on Jewish culture.It is narrated by Peter Riegert. The film includes interviews and narratives provided by, and footage of, well known Jewish basketball personalities including Ossie Schectman, Red Auerbach, Sidney...
, the first and most comprehensive documentary on the history of Jews and basketball.
See also
- Sherman WhiteSherman White (basketball)Sherman White was an American college basketball player at Long Island University who is best remembered for being indicted in a point shaving scandal that resulted in him being stripped of numerous honors and awards, having to serve an 8-month jail sentence, and being prohibited from ever...
– a player for the Long Island UniversityLong Island UniversityLong Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
men's basketball team that was indicted and jailed for participating in the point shaving scandal of 1951