Fansided

30 biggest college basketball scandals of all time

By Mike Phillips

Coll. Basketball: W. Regionals. Michigan's Jimmy King #24 hugging Chris Webber #4 after game vs Temple. (Photo by Harley Soltes/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Coll. Basketball: W. Regionals. Michigan's Jimmy King #24 hugging Chris Webber #4 after game vs Temple. (Photo by Harley Soltes/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 7: John Hot Rod Williams shoots during a game played on November 7, 1995 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1995 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 7: John Hot Rod Williams shoots during a game played on November 7, 1995 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1995 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

21. Tulane’s point-shaving scandal

If you’re getting tired of all the point shaving, you’ll be sorely disappointed as there are quite a few more examples of it to come in this list. The latest point-shaving scandal we’ll cover occurred back in 1985 when Tulane guard John “Hot Rod” Williams was caught taking money to alter point spreads.

The headline was the fact that Williams was one of five Tulane players to take money to shave points in two of the Green Wave’s games that season. Williams ended up getting arrested for his role in the plot, but he still went on to have a long professional career after being acquitted on five charges.

The scheme, which saw the players split $18,000 for fixing two games, led to deeper investigations at Tulane and they found some rather unseemly business. Head coach Ned Fowler was found to have paid all of his players throughout the season, a clear NCAA rules violation, and it had lasting ripple effects for the school.

Fowler, two of his assistants, and the school’s athletic director all resigned as a result of the various scandals surrounding the basketball program. Tulane took drastic action as well, scuttling the basketball team after that season, with university president Eamon Kelly planning for the loss of basketball to be permanent.

Kelly was convinced by students to allow the program to return, which occurred in 1989, a full four years after Hot Rod and friends took the gamblers’ cash. Tulane has since recovered to become a solid member of the American Athletic Conference, but the scandal led to the program being shut down for years, a significant downtime for any athletic institution.