Report: $1 Million Bet on Sun Devils

A gambler suspected of paying Arizona State basketball players to shave points bet more than $1 million on one game, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.

Citing an unidentified source, the newspaper reported that the gambler bet heavily against Arizona State in four 1994 contests. Past reports indicated that only two games--one against Washington and another against Washington State--were being examined by a Phoenix-based federal grand jury.

It had also been earlier reported that only $250,000 had been bet on the final game, but the Republic reported it was actually four times that amount.

Federal investigators are apparently narrowing their focus to 20 individuals, including bookmakers, gamblers, Las Vegas casino employees and former Arizona State basketball players.

The grand jury investigating the reputed point-shaving could return indictments within the next two months, the source said.

The gambler who orchestrated the scheme to have players influence the final score placed bets through accomplices on four 1994 Arizona State games: Jan. 27 with Oregon State, Jan. 29 with Oregon, March 3 with Washington State and March 5 with Washington, the newspaper reported.

Bets placed on the two January games apparently did not draw the attention of Nevada gaming officials because of heavy betting on the Super Bowl during the same week.

The gambler placed his bets on the final game against Washington with bookmakers, legal offshore betting venues and every Las Vegas casino with a sports book. Each was made with a sum of less than $10,000 to avoid federal legal transaction reporting requirements.

During the game, the heavily favored Sun Devils missed their first 14 shots and trailed by one point at halftime, but they came back to defeat Washington, 73-55, causing the gambler to lose his huge bets.

Two days earlier, Arizona State had lost to Washington State by nine points after being favored to win by three.

A Pac-10 report cleared the players and the university of wrongdoing. Arizona State officials have denied any knowledge of the illegal activities or a federal investigation.

However, the FBI has acknowledged that it continues to investigate the point-shaving allegations.

College Football

Bob Cope, former defensive coordinator for Kansas State, died this weekend of cancer.

Cope, 58, left Kansas State to be the secondary coach at USC in 1991 and 1992, and then worked on Baylor’s staff from 1993 through 1995. Cope returned to Kansas State before the 1996 season.

Cope was diagnosed with cancer in September. He lapsed into a coma Oct. 2 after a team practice and remained unconscious for nearly a week.

“He fought an awfully long and hard battle,” Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder said. “He fought it the same way he instilled values in young people. He refused to quit.”

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden has dismissed backup safety Robert Hammond and reserve middle linebacker Hank Grant from the team for violating team rules.

This latest incident comes on the heels of a report by the Tallahassee Democrat that eight FSU players have been in trouble with the law during the off-season.

Motor Sports

Tom Kendall of Manhattan Beach, driving a Ford Mustang Cobra, tied Mark Donohue’s 29-year-old Trans-Am record of eight consecutive victories by scoring an 8.406-second win over Jon Gooding at Trois-Riviers, Canada.

Cory McClenathan became the second Top Fuel driver in NHRA history to sweep the summer Western swing of three races, beating Gary Scelzi in the final of the Northwest Nationals at Kent, Wash. McClenathan had a quarter-mile run of 4.730 seconds at 313.26 mph in the McDonald’s Dragster.

Tennis

Jimmy Connors beat John McEnroe, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0, in the final of The Challenge, an ATP-sanctioned tournament for players over 35.

Connors had too much in the second set for McEnroe, who has reached the final only two hours earlier after completing Saturday’s rain-delayed semifinal against Bjorn Borg.

That match was suspended with Borg leading, 1-0, in the final set, but McEnroe rallied to win, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-1).

Connors won $150,000, McEnroe $100,000.

Unseeded Chris Woodruff, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., used aggressive play and a strong serve to upset sixth-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, to win the du Maurier Canadian Open championships. It was Woodruff’s first tournament victory.

“The first win is the toughest,” he said. “I had a couple of chances last year. Now, hopefully, I’ll get a few more titles.”

Woodruff, the 1993 NCAA champion at Tennessee, was ranked 57th in the world but will move into the top 30 when the new rankings are released today. He won the $337,000 top prize, while Kuerten, the surprise winner of the French Open earlier this year, collected $177,000.

Slava Dosedel of Czechoslovakia upset top-seeded Carlos Moya of Spain, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, to win the Grolsch Open at Amsterdam.

Basketball

The Magic Johnson All-Star Game, played before a crowd of 14,793 at the Forum Saturday night, raised approximately $1.5 million for the United Negro College Fund.

Johnson played about 10 minutes and scored five points for the Red team, which beat the Blue team, 153-147. Laker Kobe Bryant scored 35 points for the Blue, and Penny Hardaway and Gary Payton scored 20 each for the Red.

Pat Garrity of Notre Dame and Brad Miller of Purdue each scored 14 points as the United States routed China, 107-39, in the Under-22 World Basketball Championships at Melbourne, Australia.

The U.S. (3-0) clinched a spot in the medal round.

Volleyball

No. 3-seeded Adam Johnson and Karch Kiraly defeated No. 1-seeded Jose Loiola and Kent Steffes, 15-8, and won the $100,000 Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Golden State Open at Granite Bay, Calif.

No. 1-seeded Lisa Arce and Holly McPeak edged Karolyn Kirby and Nancy Reno, 15-9, and won the $50,000 Women’s Professional Volleyball Assn.’s Evian Invitational at East Quogue, N.Y.

No. 6-seeded Liz Masakayan and Elaine Youngs from the WPVA finished fourth in a beach volleyball world tour event in Espinho, Portugal, sanctioned by FIVA, the international governing body of volleyball.