Washington Coach Rick Neuheisel Says He Was In Gambling Pool

SEATTLE -- Washington Huskies football coach Rick Neuheisel admits he participated in an NCAA basketball tournament gambling pool the past two years, The Seattle Times reported Thursday.

Two NCAA investigators and one from the Pac-10 Conference questioned Neuheisel on Wednesday after receiving a tip that he put up $5,000 and won about $20,000 by picking Maryland in an auction-format pool on the men's basketball tournament in 2002, the newspaper reported.

The NCAA manual specifies that coaches, staff members and athletes may not knowingly "solicit or accept a bet on any intercollegiate competition for any item (e.g., cash, shirt, dinner) that has tangible value."

Emerging from a meeting with the investigators, Neuheisel acknowledged that his college coaching career could be on the line.

"I never in my wildest dreams imagined I was doing anything to jeopardize my employment," he said. "I don't think I would ever put myself in that situation knowingly, but I'm hopeful I can be the coach at Washington. I'd certainly like to be."

Huskies athletic director Barbara Hedges said she learned of Neuheisel's involvement in the betting pool late Wednesday and promised "a careful review of all the facts."

"Gambling is a serious violation of NCAA rules," Hedges said. "You can't minimize this. The university will take this very seriously."

Neuheisel said he was part of a four-member "team" that had the overall winner in both years he participated in what he described as a pizza-and-beer gathering. Neuheisel said his group split its winnings but would not discuss dollar amounts.

Under the auction format, participants bid on each team and the highest bid gets that team in the tournament.

"I was there (at the auction) really because most of these people were buddies of mine from my neighborhood," Neuheisel said. "Their kids went to the same school as my kids and I was an invitee ...

"Obviously, it's become a point of contention, but I never imagined that I was doing anything wrong, because we weren't dealing with bookies or lines or anything like that.

"We were just friends, like we were betting on golf holes. It seemed pretty harmless."

"I was fortunate to be on a winning team, but the money was of no consequence. It really made no difference," he said. "I was just there to share some social time with some guys in the neighborhood, golf buddies and so forth ... all guys I thought were friends."

Neuheisel, 42, has a 33-15 record in four seasons with the Huskies. Under a six-year contract extension he signed in September, he makes $1.2 million a year, and a five-year option could keep him at Washington until 2013.

The kind of pool Neuheisel described is not against state law unless a bookmaker is involved, but NCAA rules forbid any form of gambling on college sports by athletes and coaching staff.

Institutions can be sanctioned in such cases if violations were known to college officials or if the NCAA finds they should have known.

"In hindsight, Rick realizes he should have known," she said. "It's clear that gambling is prohibited on any kind of college sports regardless of what the circumstances are. I do believe Rick should have understood the situation. He just didn't relate it to the particular social situation he was in.

NCAA measures to combat gambling by coaches, players and staff include preseason talks by consortium officials to athletes, locker room posters and efforts to deny credentials to cover major NCAA events to newspapers that publish gambling point spreads.

Many college athletic departments ban even ordinary, small-change tournament brackets that are commonly filled out in offices nationwide during so-called "March Madness."

"If an athlete or coach put $1 in a pool, certainly there would not be a significant penalty," said Bill Saum, the NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities. "If there is a significant amount of money in the pool, there would be a significant penalty."

The Times reported that the NCAA investigators also questioned Neuheisel about two potential minor violations.

The most recent was in February, when he issued a statement through the university denying he had been interviewed for the San Francisco 49ers head-coaching vacancy -- then admitted he had in fact been interviewed.

Thursday is the deadline for the Huskies to report to the NCAA that Neuheisel has fulfilled all compliance requirements concerning 50 minor violations that were committed while he was coach at Colorado from 1995-98.

As the last requirement on the list, Neuheisel attended a regular NCAA compliance seminar Wednesday with athletic department officials from many schools.

Coach's future at Washington remains uncertain-had university approval for ncaa pool

Associated Press

SEATTLE -- Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel contends a school e-mail gave him permission to participate in an NCAA basketball tournament betting pool, an apparent infraction that has become the focus of an NCAA investigation.

The coach didn't return telephone calls Monday. Nor did athletic director Barbara Hedges, who reportedly met again with NCAA investigators.

Last week, investigators received a tip that Neuheisel participated in a high-stakes gambling pool on the past two NCAA tournaments, putting up $5,000 and winning about $20,000 by picking Maryland in 2002.

The NCAA prohibits gambling by college coaches on college sports, and doing so can be considered a major rules violation.

It seemed an open-and-shut case, until Neuheisel produced the e-mail late last week.

The four-paragraph e-mail, dated March 13 and attributed to Dana Richardson, assistant athletic director for compliance, was released by the Washington athletic department on Monday.

"With 'March Madness' upon us, it is important that you keep in mind that NCAA regulations and UW policy limit the extent to which ICA (intercollegiate athletics) staff can bet on college athletics," the memo said.

The last paragraph reads: "The bottom line of these rules is that if you have friends outside of ICA that have pools on any of the basketball tournaments, you can participate. You cannot place bets with a bookie or organize your own pool inside or outside of ICA."

"I have followed the University of Washington's rules, and I believed and still believe that the University of Washington's rules are in compliance with the NCAA's rules," Neuheisel said Sunday.

The NCAA won't comment on pending or specific cases, but any gambling episode involving a coach would raise immediate concern. The organization has worked over the last five years to make gambling a priority issue.

"We've been very clear over the years that participation in pools involving money would be a violation of NCAA rules," said Bill Saum, the NCAA's director of agents, gambling and amateur activities.

The NCAA manual specifies a minimum one-year suspension if Neuheisel is found to have committed a violation. The school also could be penalized, and any action against Neuheisel or the university is likely to be severe.

"The committee on infractions has instructed us to treat athletic department staff harsher than student-athletes," Saum said. "If there is a significant amount of money involved, there likely would be a significant penalty."

School officials wouldn't comment further.

Ultimately, Hedges will need to explain how an athletic department manager apparently misunderstood the rules and issued the memo. The NCAA often cites "lack of institutional control" in handing down penalties.

"We take violations of gambling legislation very seriously," Saum said.

Neuheisel has said he has spoken with school officials about the NCAA investigation.

He said he released the e-mail because of a newspaper report that indicated all athletic department personnel were warned by e-mail against participating in any NCAA basketball pools.

Neuheisel would not say why he didn't mention the e-mail when reporters asked him about the betting pool last week.

"I think what's important to do here is let the process run," he said. "I want to coach here. It's been my first, second and third goal."

Neuheisel has five years left on a contract that guarantees him at least $1.2 million a season. He has a 33-15 record in four seasons at Washington, including 7-6 last year.

There is a pretty funny cartoon in Sunday's Seattle PI editorial section. It's from that Uber-liberal David Horsey but it's still worth looking at, assuming you're not sick of this topic.

"The Rotten Apple Cup"

The memo from the UW atheletic department is an interesting development (see Neuheisel says NCAA pool met UW guidelines ) and probably explains the great silence from the UW last Friday and today.

My understanding from looking at some of the Husky football boards is that the NCAA may still rule against Rick and suspend him. However, the shoddy work done by the compliance officer basically gave departmental clearing for Rick to join the betting pool. Therefore, it would be hard to fire him for cause and they may have to buy him out of his contract.

My prediction: He has coached his last Husky game but ends up with a golden parachute rather than being outright fired. They can save outright firing for the compliance officer and maybe Hedges (the AD) as well. Comments?

I think you are probably right. I've never liked Hedges after the way Lambright was treated.

Given blunt tools, a bowl suspension, scholarship reduction, and not the strongest recruiting hand in the world, he never had a losing record, and managed to qualify for bowl games. Hedges just kicked him to the curb.

She can't seem to find the handle on the Hoops program either. No excuse for UW not to be competitive at Hoops given Gonzaga's record of performance over the last four years.

The compliance officer, in a less political world, ought not be fired, having learned an amazingly expensive lesson. Since the UW is going to end up paying in the end anyway, they may as well keep her.

As for Hedges, I've never thought she's done a particularly good job at the UW. Maybe she's good with boosters and donors, but I would have no idea.

There is speculation, and it is purely that, that there is an attraction to Neuheisel on Hedges part. There was also talk that Bender overstayed at the U due in part to Hedges attraction to Bender. I don't think there is a shred of either truth or evidence to support this. I do, however, believe that she isn't an effective manager of either big money aspects of their athletic program.

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