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Editorial: DePaul gets ensnared in a sports gambling scandal that should raise alarms at the NCAA
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- Editorial: DePaul gets ensnared in a sports gambling scandal that should raise alarms at the NCAA
Thursday was a dark day for college basketball in general and DePaul University in particular.
A sprawling indictment unsealed by the U.S. attorney's office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania laid out an alleged gambling conspiracy in which players were recruited to underperform in specific games so that bettors could wager on point spreads, both for halves of games and entire games. Players at multiple basketball programs were implicated, including four who played for DePaul in the 2023-24 season. Three of those former DePaul players were charged.
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The DePaul players acted to ensure the team didn't beat the first-half spread in three games — Big East contests versus Georgetown, Butler and St. John's — in February and March of 2024, according to the indictment. For their efforts, they were collectively paid tens of thousands of dollars. DePaul, which had a terrible record in that season and was the underdog in all three contests, didn't cover the spread in the first halves, so the allegedly crooked bets paid off.
The details in the indictment are sad to read if you're a believer in the value of college athletics.
One that stood out to us was a text one of the DePaul players received from one of the men accused of bribery during the game on March 5, 2024, against St. John's. The alleged conspirator complained that a DePaul player not in on the plot was performing too well during the first half. That player, the text said, needed to "chilllll (the expletive) out," according to the indictment.
The DePaul player texted back, reassuring the conspirator that he and his teammates wouldn't keep passing the ball to their teammate who was playing so well. Again, this was during the game!
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The game in question, mind you, took place at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, where DePaul plays its home games. In fact, all three of the games in which players are alleged to have shaved points were at home, a true insult to loyal DePaul fans who paid to watch a three-win team play out a lost season.
Perhaps not coincidentally, all three games took place shortly after DePaul fired its coach, Tony Stubblefield, leaving an interim coach in charge at the time. Just nine days after that St. John's game, DePaul announced the hiring of former Ohio State University basketball coach Chris Holtmann as its new coach.
In a statement, DePaul said it was "deeply disappointed" that former players — all of them left for other schools after the 2023-24 season — were accused in the indictment and said it had a "long-standing commitment" to educating athletes "about the dangers and consequences of sports gambling." The university said it would continue to "evaluate and strengthen" its efforts to educate players on risks just like the ones these accused former players now are experiencing firsthand.
Indeed, whatever program DePaul has been running on the potentially pernicious effects of gambling, clearly it hasn't been sufficient. Coaches and administrations bear the primary responsibility for keeping this sort of disaster from happening. Players need to be made to understand that they shouldn't be surprised to be approached by bad actors and that the risk of ruining their lives far outweighs the short-term benefits.
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This is not merely a DePaul story, of course. Players at many schools allegedly succumbed to these offers, according to the indictment. We aren't so naive to believe this group of alleged fraudsters acted in isolation. With sports gambling legalized throughout much of the country and growing rapidly, the NCAA and the sports gambling industry should be hearing shrill alarm bells in this indictment and acting accordingly.
It's time to rethink how entangled college sports is with gambling. The prevalence of prop bets (wagers on how well an athlete does by a specific statistical measurement) as well as parlays (bets on more than one thing happening) heighten the risk. Indeed, this alleged ring used parlays on multiple games they'd manipulated to try to boost their winnings, according to the indictment.
If all that comes from this scandal is the prosecution of these individuals, we will see something like this happen again. Very soon.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com .
