History of College Betting Scandals: From Mob-Run Point Shaving to Sportsbook Integrity Algorithms

Feb 24th, 2026 11:53 AM EST

For nearly 80 years, college betting scandals have followed a simple formula:

Money shows up.
Margins move.
Someone thinks they won’t get caught.

In the 1940s and ’50s, it was organized crime slipping cash to players in New York apartments. Later in the the 1990s, Las Vegas sportsbooks started noticing suspicious line movement. In the 2020s, integrity monitoring software flags abnormal betting patterns in real time — sometimes before a coach even leaves the dugout.

The schemes change. The technology evolves. The motive doesn’t.

Below is the a comprehensive chronological History of College Betting Scandals in modern history — and how enforcement has evolved from police raids to compliance dashboards. They include college football, college basketball, and even a baseball coach.

📈 The Evolution of College Betting Scandals

Era	Who Drove It	How It Was Caught
1940s–60s	Organized Crime	Informants, police raids
1970s–90s	Bookmakers & debt	Suspicious Vegas betting
2000s	Wiretaps	Federal investigations
2020s	Digital betting	Sportsbook integrity software

🟦 1945 — Brooklyn College Basketball Scandal

💵 $1,000 bribe to lose
🚨 Scheme uncovered before game played
⚖️ NY expands sports bribery laws to include amateur athletics

Five Brooklyn College players accepted $1,000 to intentionally lose a game against Akron. Police discovered the scheme during an unrelated apartment raid before the game was played.

Outcome:

The game was never played
No players were arrested
Two gambling ringleaders were jailed

Impact on Betting Laws: New York expanded its sports bribery laws to include amateur athletics, marking one of the first legal acknowledgments of point shaving in the History of College Betting Scandals.

🟥 1947–1951 — CCNY & Six Other Schools

🎯 86 games shaved
🏆 NCAA champion implicated
👮 32 players arrested
📜 Leads to federal scrutiny of college gambling

Schools Involved: CCNY, LIU, Kentucky, NYU, Bradley, Manhattan, Toledo
Sport: Basketball

Thirty-three players across seven schools shaved points in 86 games. Seven were members of the 1949–50 CCNY team that won both the NCAA Tournament and NIT — still the only such double in history.

Manhattan’s Junius Kellogg refused a $1,000 bribe, wore a wire for police, and helped expose organized crime involvement.

Fallout:

32 players arrested
CCNY banned from Madison Square Garden
LIU shut down athletics (1951–57)
Kentucky canceled its 1952–53 season

This era ultimately influenced passage of the 1964 Sports Bribery Act, criminalizing game fixing at the federal level.

🟪 1957–1961 — Jack Molinas and the Nationwide Scheme

🎲 Jack Molinas runs nationwide scheme
👥 37 players arrested
🏛️ 1964 Sports Bribery Act passed

Schools: 22 nationwide
Sport: Basketball

Former Columbia star and 1953 NBA No. 3 draft pick Jack Molinas orchestrated a massive point-shaving network.

Thirty-seven players were arrested. Molinas was sentenced to 10–15 years (served five).

Future NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue unknowingly played in a fixed game at Georgetown — reportedly influencing his later anti-gambling stance.

Impact:

St. Joseph’s stripped of 1961 NCAA third-place finish
Federal criminalization of sports bribery

Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta (above) in Goodfellas, exposed the BC point shaving scandal to the FBI. (Alamy)

🟩 1978–79 — 'Goodfellas' Boston College Basketball Scandal

🕵️ Organized crime recruits players
🎥 Later tied to Henry Hill (Goodfellas)
⛓️ Only one player jailed

Players shaved points in nine games during the 1978–79 season after being recruited by organized crime figures.

Only Rick Kuhn — who recruited teammates — served prison time (12 years, reduced to four).

The scheme was later exposed by mob associate Henry Hill, portrayed by Ray Liotta in Goodfellas.

🟧 1985 — Tulane Basketball Shutdown

💰 Players shave two games
🚫 Program disbanded
🏟️ Returns four years later

Five players shaved points in games against Southern Miss and Memphis State.

An expanded investigation uncovered drug use and improper payments.

Impact:

Tulane disbanded its basketball program
Withdrew from the Metro Conference
Returned in 1989–90

One of the rare cases where a Division I program shut down entirely due to a gambling scandal.

1994 — Arizona State Point Shaving Case

📉 Players paid not to cover spread
📊 Vegas books flag suspicious action
🔎 Nevada regulators + FBI notified
➡️ Early example of sportsbook integrity detection

Stevin "Headache" Smith and Isaac Burton were paid by bookmaker Benny Silman to ensure ASU failed to cover in four games.

Suspicious betting activity in Las Vegas drew the attention of sportsbooks, which alerted the Nevada Gaming Control Board and FBI.

Sentences:

Smith: One year, one day
Burton: Two months
Silman: Nearly four years

This case marked an early example of sportsbooks flagging integrity concerns. Among those who assisted the FBI in the case was legendary oddsmaker Johnny Avello. Now the director of race and sports at DraftKings, Avello helped run the Bally's sportsbook at the time.

🟨 1994–1996 — Northwestern, Maryland, Boston College Betting Woes

🎲 Betting violations
❌ No major organized crime involvement
⚠️ NCAA gambling enforcement expands

A wave of gambling violations spread across campuses:

Northwestern’s Kenneth Lee shaved points in three basketball games
BC football players bet through a student bookmaker
Maryland QB Scott Milanovich placed small wagers (none on Maryland games)

These cases expanded NCAA scrutiny of athlete gambling behavior beyond point shaving.

🟫 2004–06 — Toledo Point-Shaving Scheme

📞 Wiretap investigation
💵 Players paid to manipulate margins
⚖️ Probation, no jail time

Detroit-area businessmen paid Toledo football and basketball players to influence final margins.

The scheme was uncovered through federal wiretaps.

Seven players were charged. None served jail time — probation and fines were imposed. </div>

🟦 2011 — San Diego Assistant Coach Scheme

👔 Assistant coach orchestrates shaving
💰 Up to $10,000 per game
🔍 Discovered in unrelated federal probe

Assistant coach Thaddeus Brown recruited point guard Brandon Johnson to shave points in up to four games for as much as $10,000 per game.

The scheme surfaced during an unrelated federal drug investigation.

Sentences:

Johnson: Six months
Brown: One year

2023 — Alabama Baseball Coach Betting Out Of State

📡 Licensed sportsbook flags suspicious bets
🧠 Integrity monitoring system triggers investigation
🔥 Coach fired

Alabama fired baseball coach Brad Bohannon after licensed sportsbook integrity systems flagged suspicious wagering tied to an LSU-Alabama game in Ohio.

This marked one of the first moments in the History of College Betting Scandals in which regulated sportsbook monitoring systems discovered the problem. Modern compliance tools replaced informants.

2023 — Iowa & Iowa State Digital Betting Violations

📱 Athletes used online sportsbooks
🏟️ Bets placed inside team facilities
⚖️ Underage gambling pleas
📊 6,200+ wagers placed by staff

Digital footprint replaces envelope cash.

Authorities investigated dozens of athletes and staff for online sports betting violations.

Some athletes bet via legal sportsbooks using family accounts — even inside athletic facilities.

Five staff members placed over 6,200 bets totaling $110,000.

Former Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers pleaded guilty to reduced underage gambling charges.

Sanctions extended into 2025.

🟥 2026 — 17 Division I Programs Federal Indictment

💵 $10K–$30K per game
📄 70-page federal indictment
👥 39 players implicated
⚖️ 20 defendants charged

Federal prosecutors charged 20 men in a sprawling point-shaving scheme impacting at least 29 games across 17 NCAA Division I programs.

According to a 70-page indictment:

39 players allegedly involved
Payments ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game
15 defendants were active players during the 2023–25 seasons
Four charged players appeared in games this season

How College Betting Scandals Have Evolved

1940s–60s: Organized crime and envelope cash
1970s–90s: Spread manipulation and Vegas alerts
2000s: Federal wiretaps
2020s: Digital betting trails and sportsbook compliance software

The biggest difference today?
Algorithms have replaced snitches. Informants in smoky apartments now find their role played by algorithms.