HPD says it isn’t investigating rumor of point-shaving by UH

The Honolulu Police Department said Tuesday afternoon "there is not enough information to open a criminal investigation" of alleged point-shaving by unnamed University of Hawaii football players.

Earlier in the day, UH issued a statement saying President MRC Greenwood and Board of Regents Chairman Eric Martinson met with police Chief Louis Kealoha "to offer UH’s full cooperation with HPD’s inquiry."

Told of HPD’s announcement, Lynne Waters, spokeswoman for the UH president’s office, said: "We have nothing more to add at this point."

In a statement, HPD said it was first contacted by UH officials about the allegations of point-shaving in early November.

"UH officials gave a copy of an anonymous letter to the HPD," according to spokeswoman Michelle Yu. "At this time, there is not enough information to open a criminal investigation."

A spokesman would not say whether the FBI would investigate the accusations.

Spokesman Dave Koga said the matter was not forwarded to the city prosecutor’s office.

Point shaving is an illegal act where a player purposely manipulates the score of a sporting event to affect who will win bets against a point spread.

Players involved in a point-shaving scheme might, for instance, purposely fumble, drop a pass, overthrow a receiver or miss a tackle in an attempt to keep the score — either at halftime or at the end of the game — within the desired margin.

In the past 60 years, there have been seven known cases of point-shaving in college athletics, including a 2005 case in which a University of Toledo football player accepted money for providing information and another for intentionally fumbling the ball. The other cases involved basketball, the most recent being a 2010 case where all-time leading University of San Diego scorer Brandon Johnson was among 10 people indicted.

Point-shaving is a felony under federal law. It falls under the category of sports bribery, and is punishable by up to five years in prison. In Hawaii, it is considered to be a misdemeanor.

Greenwood said that on Nov. 3, the UH-Manoa Office of Admissions received an anonymous letter alleging point-shaving by unnamed members of the Warrior football team.

According to a person familiar with the situation, there were two letters included in the package, which was marked with what was believed to be a fabricated name and return address.

Greenwood said UH officials immediately notified HPD and the NCAA of the allegations.

"UH has alerted the NCAA about the anonymous letter and its contents and, in discussion with them, has been informed it is ‘doing exactly what you need to be doing’ in this situation."

UH athletic director Jim Donovan, who was in Las Vegas Tuesday for the Western Athletic Conference’s volleyball tournament, confirmed UH was quick to notify HPD and the NCAA.

Head football coach Greg McMackin said the team was told by the UH administration not to comment publicly on the accusation.

But told of HPD’s statement, McMackin smiled.

After learning of the accusation, a UH coach, requesting anonymity, said every UH play this season was reviewed. He said there was no evidence to support point-shaving.

Donovan said each student-athlete is required to attend an orientation session during which point-shaving and its penalties are addressed.

The Warriors were 5-3 and tied for second place in the WAC when UH received the letter.

Since then, the Warriors have lost three in a row, falling to 5-6, and need to win their final two regular-season games to qualify for the Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl. They play Tulane on Saturday and Brigham Young on Dec. 3.

BETTING NUMBERS

Point shaving is an illegal act where a player purposely manipulates the score of a sporting event to affect who will win bets against a point spread. Players involved in a point-shaving scheme in football, for instance, might purposely fumble, drop a pass, overthrow a receiver or miss a tackle in an attempt to keep the score — either at halftime or at the end of the game — within the desired margin. In Las Vegas, for instance, legal wagers can be placed for a halftime result, a game result or an over-under, which is the combined score of both teams.

* From Glantz-Culver, a point-spread line distributed by Associated Press and run daily in the Star-Advertiser.

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