John (Hot Rod) Williams was a victim...

John (Hot Rod) Williams was a victim of a frameup by fellow members of the Tulane basketball team who were jealous of his ability and desperate for money to pay for their drug habits, attorney Michael Green said in New Orleans.

Green is representing Williams, who is accused of two counts of fixing Tulane games against Memphis State and Southern Mississippi and of three counts of conspiring to fix basketball games.

Earlier, former Tulane basketball player Bobby Thompson, testifying as part of a plea bargain, outlined plans he and others made to fix three 1985 college games.

Thompson said that he contacted Williams and three other players about fixing the Southern Mississippi game, the Virginia Tech game and the Memphis State game.

Thompson said the plot to fix the Virginia Tech game was never carried out. But he said he and the four players worked to shave points against Southern Mississippi and Memphis State.

It was all the idea of Tulane student Gary Kranz, according to Thompson. “He told the players that he could get us $3,500 by just staying under the certain number of the spread,” Thompson testified.