School officials stress NCAA compliance

TOLEDO and BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - In the wake of Wednesday's multiple federal indictments of six former University of Toledo student-athletes alleged of point shaving, many are wondering how something like this can be prevented.

At the basic level, it comes down to following National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations, a 400-page guideline that student-athletes and coaches must adhere to.

"Our athletic administrators and coaches spend countless hours on compliance issues making sure that the student-athletes and coaches realize all the rules and regulations," said Larry Burns, UT Vice President of External Affairs, on Wednesday when the federal indictments were handed down.

The six indicted are Adam Cuomo, 31, Keith Triplett, 29, Anton Currie, 25, Kashif Payne, 24, Harvey "Scooter" McDougle, 24, and Quinton Broussard, 25. They either played on the Rockets football or men's basketball programs.

The indictment said between December 2004 and December 2006, 52-year-old Ghazi Manni of Sterling Heights, Mich., and 76-year-old Mitchell Karam of Troy, Mich., paid athletes to influence the final scores of football and basketball games on which the businessmen would bet.

Ryan Squire, Bowling Green State University's compliance officer, pointed out that the Wood County and fellow Mid-American Conference school also has training sessions with their coaches and students.

Inside the guidebook, right in the front and just after illegal drugs, is a section on sports wagering. Squire informs Falcon student-athletes it's that far up the list for a reason.

"When stories like this come up and hit close to home, it's the best teaching opportunity," Squire said. "We can give the student-athletes a concrete example instead of of pointing them to the rule in the manual."

It is unclear what kind of trouble UT could get into following Wednesday's mass indictments in U.S. District Court in Detroit. If the allegations hold up, it could take some time what kind of sanctions could be handed out to the University of Toledo.

"I believe people will evaluate and judge the University of Toledo and how we react to things like this - how we act, and the seriousness in which we act," Burns said. "We believe that we have done everything that we can to cooperate and to move forward."

"We called the NCAA and told them everything we know. They appreciate that and then I believe it's their policy to sort of wait for everything to be completed or done, and they do what ever their going to do."

When questioned if the school is worried that the sports teams involved in the allegations could be stripped of any wins or titles, Burns said he doesn't want to dwell on the past. He's confident that the Rockets athletic department will have a bright future.

Court documents said the former Rocket student-athletes athletes talked and met several times with Manni and Karam near the Glass Bowl and at a Downtown Detroit casino.

Investigators said two other meetings took place at a bank following UT basketball games during the 2005-06 season. The indictment does not include many details about the players' alleged involvement. It does not list any football games that were part of the alleged point shaving.

It did say that Manni met three times with McDougle and made dozens of calls to Cuomo.

Cuomo, a little used running back, told investigators that he was the player who started the point shaving scheme with Manni, according to documents unsealed last month.

Manni and Karam are expected to make court appearances Monday in Detroit. It was not known when the players would appear. Federal authorities could start extradition proceedings for Cuomo, who lives in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Manni twice met with basketball player Sammy Villegas at a bank near Detroit on the day after two Toledo games, the indictment said.

One of those meetings came after Manni and Karam bet $21,000 on Toledo's game against East Carolina on Dec. 21, 2005, the indictment said. Manni also met with Currie at a hotel parking lot on the day of that game, the court documents said.

The Rockets beat East Carolina 73-62. Villegas scored 15 points - nine above his season average - but missed two of six free throws in the final minute and a half of the game. Currie had five points.

The indictment doesn't say which team Manni and Karam bet on or what the betting line was on the game.

Villegas, who grew up in Puerto Rico, was charged in June with shaving points and paying another to help. He was the MAC freshman of the year in 2003 but his career fell apart and he played sparingly in his senior season.

He went on to play pro basketball in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and was an alternate for Puerto Rico's Olympic team four years ago. His agent has said Villegas was co-operating with authorities. He has a sentencing date scheduled for June 18.

(FOX Toledo's Mike Thompson and The Associated Press contributed to this report)