Cobb, in his first interview about the case in 30 years, said he is working on a movie and a book about his life. At Holy Cross, fans mocked the point-shaving scandal by playing the Gillette theme song and waving razors at BC players. The test run for the scheme proved unsuccessful when Boston College's team established an early lead and ultimately won the game by nineteen points.
But that had nothing to do with shaving points., At the time, I was nave, Cobb continued. Nor did Kuhn answer his cellphone or respond to letters. It was a tragedy that he never got another chance to play in the NBA., Kevin Loughery never gave me a firm reason why the Nets were letting me go, said Cobb. Thats why I got into education and coaching. He really set the tone in terms of being a strong, dynamic, willful player that wondrous talents like John Bagley, Michael Adams and Dana Barros, all of whom went on to play ball in the NBA after their careers at B.C., followed. WebThe center is a 6 ft. 8 in. With his sentence reduced, Kuhn served 28 months in prison.
In addition to the Rhodes nomination and Eagle of the Year honors, he became the first BC athlete to win an NCAA scholarship for a postgraduate fellowship. I felt like, You put my name out there, so let me clear my name! When they investigated me, I told them straight up about the $1,000 that Rocco Perla had given me. They couldnt stop him. He was indicted in 1983 and tried in 84, more than four years after he graduated from BC as Eagle of the Year. The February 6 game against St. John's was a "push" (winning back exact bets), as the syndicate neither won nor lost when St. John's prevailed 8576, the exact point spread (nine) the bookmakers had offered.[i]. As for Kuhn, Sweeney expressed conflicting feelings about helping to convict his former friend. Ex-convict at center of scheme, was connected to Kuhn by one of the players high school friends. Hill revealed his involvement in the point-shaving scheme, offering to relate the full story if federal officials would guarantee him full immunity and would agree to intercede on his behalf to convince state officials to drop the drug charges pending in state court. I was like, Yeah, whatever. Sure enough, a few weeks later, he hands my girlfriend an envelope. But Ray, like others in town, said she was unaware of Kuhns role in the BC scandal. After perhaps his greatest moment during the preseason, when he had that outstanding game against the Celtics right before the regular season tipped off, Cobb was relaxing in his hotel room when he heard a knock at the door. All these years later, the lessons of the BC case endure. Sign Up. A week before Thanksgiving 1978, Sweeney agreed to have dinner at the Logan Hilton with Kuhns out-of-town friends. I was a captain and the ballhandler, he said. Suspecting that some bookmakers might be getting wise to the scheme, the conspirators temporarily revised their strategy after the UCLA game. Position: Forward 6-5 (196cm) School: Boston College (Men) More player info When I received a call from Henry Hill saying I couldnt play basketball with a broken arm, it was then that I was sort of in over my head, Kuhn told the commission. She knew the terrain in terms of what I needed to be doing, said Cobb. He pushed all the right buttons at BC.. I thought he might have been a student, because he was young and I saw him hanging around Rick Kuhn all the time. Basketball player Rick Kuhn He said they also offered him drugs, women, and cars.. WebPeople named Rick Kuhn. Sign up to receive The Shadow League Newsletter in your inbox. Kuhn would be responsible for ensuring, by his play on the court, that Boston College fell short of the point spread. They live with their teenage daughter on a small cottage lot Kuhn inherited from his father 50 miles from Pittsburgh. Holy Cross was favored to win and, consistent with the scheme, were bet on to win by a margin greater than the seven-point spread. February 27, 2023 new bill passed in nj for inmates 2022 No Comments . After the investigation was completed, Cobb was not named as a defendant in the initial trial, U.S. vs Burke, which opened to a circus of media attention on October 27th, 1981. Sweeney said he is close to a national television deal for an animated sports media program inspired in part by the scandal. Point Shaving Scandal: Exterior view of the Logan Airport Hilton Hotel. On Sunday, the 68-team field for the NCAAs annual March Madness tournament will be selected, triggering a betting frenzy that is expected to generate roughly $2.5 billion in illegal wagers. WebRick Kuhn (born 18 September 1955) is an Australian Marxian economist, political analyst and reader at the Australian National University in Canberra. #ada-button-frame { I admitted to receiving that money, and spending it. The gang lost money on three other games, against Rhode Island Jan. 10, St. Johns Feb. 6, and Holy Cross Feb. 10. Mazzei in turn contacted Henry Hill, a Lucchese crime family associate from New York who had befriended Mazzei while both men were serving sentences in a federal prison. Rick Kuhn. Burke instructed Hill to warn the players to keep to their end of the deal because "you can't play basketball with broken hands.". Kuhn did not testify and was convicted on all counts. or. His lifes dream of making it to the NBA, which was where he belonged, was taken away from him. His basketball heart still beating, Cobb launched his renaissance in Israel. When he arrived on campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, Cobbs internal mantra was, I gotta stay eligible. With those persistent affirmations dancing through his mind, he took his academic responsibilities seriously from day one. But mercy has eluded them at BC, where they remain outcasts despite Cobbs exoneration on the charges against him and Sweeneys appeals for reconciliation. Hill turned state's evidence in exchange for avoiding prison and possible execution by Burke and the Lucchese family. display: none; Boston College was favored by twelve to thirteen points, but won the game by only a three-point margin, 8683. Perla and Kuhn had gone to high school together and were good friends. Cobb admitted receiving $1,000 from his girlfriend, who had taken an envelope containing 50 $20 bills at the Garden from a conspirator after BC defeated Harvard, 86-83, to clinch a gambling win for the Goodfellas. A lot of kids could find themselves in the same boat as Rick Kuhn, said McDonald, who graduated from BC a decade before the scandal. The fact that I went to court and fought for my name, that I stood up for myself and cleared my name, that I was exonerated and acquitted, its a travesty that Im still associated with this., My name is indelibly linked to it, Cobb continued.
Bob Hohler can be reached at hohler@globe.com. As he walked across the scenic campus, marveled at the schools architectural splendor or ate until his hearts content in the dining hall, hed often pause to quietly give thanks for his fortunate circumstances. The syndicate was very happy with this result, and Kuhn was given cash to distribute to the players for their efforts. The crime was immortalized in the movie Goodfellas..
In all, Kuhn and the mob crew were charged with trying to fix at least six games. . It wasnt until I got older that I realized innocent people are found guilty.. Before he arrived in Chestnut Hill, he had spent two years collecting paychecks as a lefthanded pitcher in the Cincinnati Reds farm system. I called my buddy Frank Melzer, who was an attorney, said Alswanger. In this case, while the spread was as high as 5, the syndicate was able to lay just 2 points, and therefore pushed when Holy Cross won by 2. . Come back tomorrow; he will be home all day.. We were all so excited for him. He also connected with Hill to power the ring. He worked hard in class. While Hill was being questioned, FBI agents inadvertently mentioned his frequent trips to Boston around the time of the Lufthansa heist. For BC, the fallout was humiliating. Cobb also was accused of conspiring to fix two other BC games, against Rhode Island on Jan. 10 and Fordham on Feb. 3. Help Debby Get Into Clinical Trial. The Boston Globe reported on Friday that Cobb and Bowie are targets of the federal probe into allegations of point-shaving in three Eagles games. See Photos. I was young, and I really believed in the court system, Cobb said from Phoenix, where he coaches the boys basketball team at South Mountain High School. The abbreviated version of events reads like this:the Perlas brought in a Pittsburgh hood named Paul Mazzei, who contacted his friend Henry Hill, an associate of New Yorks Lucchese crime family that had befriended him during a stretch in federal prison. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Kuhn was thus expected to keep the score below the six- to seven-point margin. Mazzei and the Perlas were particularly hopeful that Hill would enlist the support of his associate, James Burke, to finance the payments to the players and to set up a network of bookmakers who were in on the scheme. I was having a lot of success, we were turning around the fortunes of the program and I was getting a lot of press in the Boston Globe and area newspapers. For Kuhn, basketball was his second sport. But for many, there is a fierce bitterness that still lingers to this day. Time has distanced them from the dangerous decisions of their youth. Out of everything that happened, thats one thing that hurts me tremendously, Cobb said. Mazzei, Hill and the Perlas devised a plan to rip off bookies I was relishing that moment. My family has suffered.
Rick Kuhn. See Photos. But Kuhn was a player of limited ability, so he recruited his roommate and best friend, who also happened to be the most important player on the floor, the teams senior point guard, Jim Sweeney.
That was absolutely wrong.. The chocolates stayed in his pocket. The Nets coaches were telling me, Coach, hes gonna be a great pro., I had a great camp with the Nets and was poised to make the team, said Cobb. By my junior year, it was show-time, said Cobb. A high school sophomore, she shares Kuhns athletic interests and has played varsity basketball and softball. combinatorial testing software testing access control cyber security. After a four-week trial, each conspirator was convicted on charges of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) conspiracy, conspiracy to commit sports bribery, and interstate travel with the intent to commit bribery. A high-stakes gambler, Mazzei saw gold in Kuhn and his teammates secretly influencing the outcome of BCs games so those involved in the con could bet with near-certainty of cashing in. The scheme continued to work successfully in the December 23 game against UCLA. They mentioned the $1,000 that Rocco Perla gave my girlfriend and I told them the truth. Hill brought in his mentor, Jimmy Burke, to finance the operation and set up a network of bookies who could advance the financial potential of the scheme. and I were the victims of the same circumstances that were beyond our control. With Roccos high school buddy Rick Kuhn entering his senior year at Boston College, where he was expected to be a contributor to the schools basketball team, the brothers figured they could make a ton of money. Name: Richard Kuhn AIA Job title and company: Design director, Perkins+Will Degree(s): B. Jim Sweeney, Rick Kuhn, and Ernie Cobb betrayed the trust of their teammates and the responsibility afforded them as student athletes at Boston College, school spokesman Jack Dunn said. Do you recognize him? And my answer every time was, No! I didnt recognize any of those mobsters because I had never met them. But I found out that I wouldnt be allowed to leave the United States because the government was going to bring me to trial.. Jim Sweeney was not charged. Burkes gang had just successfully pulled off the Lufthansa airport heist at New Yorks JFK airport, where theyd stolen an estimated $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewels, the largest cash robbery in America at the time. Determined to clear his name, Cobb rejected offers to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for no jail time, and a jury sided with him over Kuhn and the other convict offering testimony in exchange for sentence reductions. Other notable players selected in that draft included Sidney Moncrief, Bill Laimbeer, Bill Cartwright, Mark Eaton and Jim Paxson. Boston College Accused of Point Shaving, was the big headline on the UPI wire. By the time the FBI came for them, Kuhn, Sweeney, and Cobb had left Boston. Rick Kuhn. I saw Ernie score 28 points against the Celtics in one of the final pre-season games when he was with the Nets, said Alswanger, Cobbs former high school coach. In this case, while the line may have opened, or at one time gone to two, because of the heavy betting on Holy Cross, the syndicate had to lay as many as seven points, and therefore lost their bet. And in that article in Sports Illustrated, Henry Hill says, The word came back that Cobb was enthusiastic. The key phrase there is The word came back. I dont know what Rick Kuhn was telling Henry Hill or the Perla brothers. Alswanger, my high school coach inspired me to rise above my circumstances, he continued. Log In. I think you could poll a lot of people in the business and the Boston College scandal is off their radar. Mackey said the BC staff knew nothing about the conspiracy until the news broke nearly two years later. Self-described Boston College basketball fixer, he confessed the conspiracy to agents investigating the signature crime of his mob crew, the Lufthansa heist immortalized in Goodfellas. Recruited into scheme by Mazzei. Also a BC captain, Sweeney claims he reluctantly agreed to be recruited into the scheme. They contacted a local friend, Paul Mazzei, who was known to have influence within major New York gambling circles.
Valerie Ray, the girls basketball coach at Ligonier Valley High School, said Kuhn has contributed as a community volunteer in basketball and softball. And Daniel Simones forthcoming book, The Lufthansa Heist, takes a new look at the BC crime, which the Goodfellas gangsters committed the same winter as the Lufthansa caper. rick kuhn boston college now. And now, here I was on that same floor, pumped sky high, giving my defender buckets! The scheme paid off for the mobsters at least four times, when BC played Harvard Dec. 16, UCLA Dec. 23, UConn Jan. 17, and Fordham Feb. 3. The Perla brothers mobilized a betting syndicate to maximize their potential gain from the scheme. The point-shaving allegations surfaced during an unrelated investigation into the 1978 theft of $5.8 million from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at New Yorks Kennedy Airport.
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And look what he did to the lives of those kids. Hill allegedly coerced Sweeney by telling him he knew where his parents lived and that his girlfriend Maura, now his wife, was in Spain on a semester abroad. Ultimately, nothing happened. After his junior campaign, where he converted 52% of his shots, an inordinate number for a small perimeter shooter, and averaged 22.8 points per game, he was recognized as one of the most lethal scorers in the country. I was caught in the perfect storm, Sweeney said. The Sweeneys reached out to BC in part because Jim Sweeney expects his public profile to rise with his new entertainment venture. Prosecutors alleged that Cobb agreed to join the scheme before the Eagles played Harvard Dec. 16 at Boston Garden. Those later betters on St. John's lost money because they laid more than the eventual nine point margin of victory.