Northwestern Scandal Widens

The investigation into sports gambling at Northwestern will not stop with Friday’s guilty plea by an ex-player, authorities said.

They underscored their point by announcing another indictment in the investigation that has rocked the Big Ten’s most academically prestigious university, a scandal that at first seemed to be about a few fixed basketball games.

“There are a lot of leads and a lot of things going on,” assistant U.S. attorney Mark Vogel said. “I would stay tuned.”

In his guilty plea Friday, former Northwestern football player Brian Ballarini admitted running a gambling operation on two college campuses. He said he had helped about 15 individuals, including Northwestern athletes, place bets on college and professional games.

The new allegations surfaced Friday in the indictment of Michael Stemberk, 24, who was not a Northwestern student.

Prosecutors allege Ballarini shared inside information with Stemberk about the 1994 Northwestern football team, information that Stemberk used to place large bets through Ballarini at least twice.

WLS-TV in Chicago, citing sources it did not name, reported last week that a federal grand jury had issued subpoenas for records and videos involving several football games in 1994, the year before Northwestern’s Rose Bowl season.

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Notre Dame may be interested in Big Ten membership, after all.

Notre Dame athletic director Michael Wadsworth told the Chicago Tribune that the school’s change in outlook came after a meeting last week with conference officials. He said the improved financial picture may have led both sides past a stumbling block that could have ended negotiations.

“I really don’t think the big issue is going to be the money,” Wadsworth said.

Wadsworth said an agreement with Big Ten officials prohibited him from disclosing any of the information shared by Notre Dame and the conference. But he said more talks could lead to more specific discussions after the start of the year.

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The eight schools leaving the Western Athletic Conference have given the remaining schools formal notice of their secession and are scrambling to name their future league in time for televised football games in the coming weeks, an Air Force Academy official said.

Letters of withdrawal signed by the presidents of the departing schools were sent to the other institutions Thursday, said Col. Hans Mueh, who represents Air Force on a transition team the eight schools set up to handle the split.

Air Force, Brigham Young, Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, Nevada Las Vegas, Utah and Wyoming announced in May that they planned to leave the 16-team conference.

The departing schools have hired a Las Vegas advertising firm to help name the new league and design its logo. Mueh said the firm was planning to announce the name on Oct. 1, but many school officials want to have it in time for televised games as early as next weekend.