If you remove the “ill” from Sammy Villegas’ name, you’re left with a moniker straight out of central casting for some cheesy 50s Sin City flick – Sammy Vegas.  You can easily picture Sammy sliding in and out of cocktail lounges up and down Fremont Street, looking for the next mark on his latest hustle.

Sammy Vegas’ Hustle Just Flew

Unfortunately for the University of Toledo and the game of college basketball in general, Sammy V(ill)egas may just be the latest black eye on a sport that periodically must deal with the ugly spectre of organized crime’s influence around the margins of the game.  In other words, another pointshaving scandal.  A little over a year ago, in reference to the Tim Donaghy officiating scandal in the NBA, we wrote the following in a piece called It Happens More Than We Think:

A recent statistical analysis from the Wharton School at Penn suggests that one percent (~500) of NCAA basketball games from 1989-2005 fell into an outlier that suggests gambling-related pointspread corruption.  This dovetails with a 2003 NCAA report that states that 1.1% of NCAA football players and 0.5% of NCAA basketball players accepted money to play poorly in a game (extrapolating from the sample suggests that this affects ~21 basketball and ~112 football players annually).   

Well, it appears that we now know two of those players from the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.  Sammy Villegas has been indicted by federal prosecutors for conspiracy to influence sporting events by bribery, and all indications are that he is now cooperating with the government to help bring down the Mafiosos who were supporting this endeavor.  Villegas is also alleged to have paid an unnamed teammate to help him pointshave.  According to published reports of the indictment:

On Feb. 4, 2006, Villegas placed a call to a conspirator in Michigan at about 12:15 p.m. Villegas made another call to a conspirator in Michigan at 12:29 p.m. He made another at 3:57 p.m. On that same day, according to the indictment, Villegas is accused of intentionally missing two free throws in a game against “Central State University.” The box score for Feb. 4, 2006, however, shows that Toledo beat conference rival Central Michigan 78-62 that day.  The home game tipped off at 7 p.m. Villegas came off the bench to play 21 minutes, hitting his only shot of the game, a 3-pointer, and missing two free throws.

What’s odd about that game is that, according to RJ Bell at Pregame.com, the final Vegas spread on it was Toledo -15 points.  Despite Villegas’ alleged best (er, worst) efforts, Toledo ended up covering the spread by one point anyway, which would have blown a lot of money of some dangerous folks.  Since the indictment only mentions this one game, we don’t know how often or how deep Villegas got himself into this mess, but just looking at his statistics for those two seasons compared to the previous two, it is apparent that something was seriously weighing on his mind (or his wallet).

As you can see, his numbers during his last two years are down across the board, which is unusual for an upperclass player who isn’t injured or recruited over.  Shooting is precipitously worse in every area, and minutes, scoring and rebounding are also down, as expected.  What really caught our eye, though was Villegas’ assist numbers.  He’d shown a decent propensity for finding open teammates his first two seasons, but in his last two he hardly ever passed the ball to a teammate in a scoring position.  Is this circumstantial evidence that he was wilfully not seeing those openings like he was?  We think so.  The USAO for the E.D.Mich. can send it payment to us COD.   

For what it’s worth, his coach doesn’t believe the accusations.   

A post today from the most entertaining Syracuse sports blog Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician got us thinking about a couple of seemingly disparate things today. 

First, is there any more difficult impossible charge for a college athlete to shed than that of some kind of sexual assault?  Similarly, is there any more difficult impossible charge for an institution and the police to prove than that of some kind of sexual assault (eliminating the outright rapes involving DNA, of course)?  Usually all that anyone can seem to agree upon is that something happened involving a player and an unnamed woman.  How far that something went and whether it was consensual or a simple misunderstanding often involves convolution that would make Robin Lopez’s lafro look stick-straight in comparison.

How Twisted and Convoluted?

We can think of a couple of recent examples where the he-said/she-said repartee ultimately resulted in a slightly uncomfortable exoneration of a player’s name, where everyone sorta shrugs their shoulders, looks around and wonders exactly what the hell happened while simultaneously hoping that it doesn’t impact next year’s team.  Kentucky’s Chuck Hayes is but one example.  Kansas’ Sherron Collins another.  Need we even mention Kobe Bean’s douche d’amour  in Eagle, CO?  And now we encounter the trio of Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn, Scoop Jardine and Rick Jackson, each of whom was accused of playing a role in a sexual assault on the Syracuse campus last fall.  Flynn is arguably Cuse’s top returning player, and Jardine/Jackson are both contributors whose roles should increase next season.

Come On Ladies, It Was Only a Kiss…

Reading through the grand jury account (filtered through the Syracuse Post-Standard’s news report) is a lot like watching hockey on tv – you know the puck is down there somewhere, but you can’t really follow it until it hits something.   Depending on who you ask, the accuser is a) not seeking criminal prosecution; b) seeking criminal prosecution; c) is no longer claiming she was a victim of sexual assault; d) is claiming that she was a victim of sexual assault; e) being treated as a pawn amongst her mother and the university.  In other words, about as clear as Mudd.

Ultimately there was a grand jury proceeding, and the accuser testified at the hearing. She must have apparently been laughed out of the room due to the fact that, according to the old legal adage that a grand jury will indict a ham sandwich, the accuser’s story did not rise to ham sandwich level.  According to Troy Nunes, Syracuse University will continue with its own internal disciplinary proceedings in this matter (on what evidence, we’d love to hear).

Juli Needs to Put the Screws to Jim Again

The other thing that this post got us thinking about was Jim Boeheim’s program in general.  We’ve a notion that Boeheim should be called Mail It In-heim for the way he’s been handling the Orange in the years since his only Carmelo-led championship.  With his hot MILF wife and his secure ring finger, does Jimmy B. have the drive to push beyond mediocrity anymore (we were going to compare him to Gary Williams at Maryland, but realized quickly that GW deserves his own category of underachievement)? 

Consider: 

• Three of Boeheim’s eleven 10+ loss seasons in 32 years as a head coach have come in the last three years (12, 11, and 14 losses, respectively).   Last year’s 14 losses were the most for a Jim Boeheim-coached team EVER. 
• Before last year, the 1980-81 and 1981-82 seasons were the last period where Syracuse had not gone to the NCAAs in consecutive years.  (granted, Cuse got screwed royally in 2006-07, but they were still a bubble team)  It could have been three in a row if not for G-Mac’s miraculous Big East Tourney title run in 2006. 
• In fact, Syracuse hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 2004, its longest streak of such misery since prior to Boeheim’s arrival in 1976.      
• Boeheim’s winning percentage from 1976-2003 is .743.  His percentage from 2004-present is .694, and that includes four bogus NIT wins played in the friendly confines of the Carrier Dome. 
• Honestly, the only highlights of the last five seasons since the national championship were the 2005 and 2006 Big East Tournament titles.  That’s great and all, but it’s not how Syracuse basketball built its name (both of those were Cinderella runs). 

Perhaps this is old news for Syracuse faithful, but it really surprised us when we took a look at the numbers.  With an eligible Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris in addition to a healthy Eric Devendorf, there is potential for Syracuse to break its stranglehold on an NIT bid this season; but we’re not sure that Boeheim is getting as much from his players as he once did.  We’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on upstate New York this year. 

It was just around 2 years ago that a fresh-faced youngster from Duke University decided to pop back a few Zimas (along with his collar) and take a late night drive around Durham before the NBA Draft. Now comes news out of Chapel Hill that Ty Lawson (basically the antithesis of Redick–UNC, black, athletic, no shot versus Duke, white, unathletic, and great shot) decided to do essentially the same thing. Let’s take a look at the results.

Two years ago, J.J. Redick stumbled into the Durham County Jail:

Polo shirt + bleary-eyed look + messed up hair + semi-popped collar = Perfection

After seeing what the ACC’s all-time scorer did 2 years before, let’s see what Lawson was able to pull off:

First off, Lawson looks pretty normal here. He looks pretty composed and is staring straight ahead at the camera. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought this was his team photo from the look on his face. If Ty wants to move into J.J. territory and possibly land on The Smoking Gun he needs a lot of work. I’m not a fan of the white t-shirt for these photos, but at least spill something on it. Show a little effort, Ty!

In the worst-things-you-can-do-when-pulled-over-by-the-cops anthology, this story as perpetrated by Akron sophomore guard Rydell Brooks must rank near the top.  Around midnight Saturday, Brooks and his buddy, Ed Davis, Jr., were stopped by police on what they called a “routine traffic stop.” 

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later (photo credit: WKYC.com)

Let’s see, we’ve been pulled over many times in our driving days, and we’ve developed a keen sense of what not to do in those situations.  For one, you don’t start moving around inside the vehicle, nor do you start reaching for things that may or may not be hidden in the glovebox or the floorboard.  You try to keep yourself courteous and polite and you avoid arguing with the po-po man over whatever it is he’s saying you did.  Most importantly, you don’t pull out a bitchin’ MAC-10 and start unloading into the friendly officers under any circumstances…

Brooks and Davis had other ideas: 

A University of Akron basketball player is being held on charges of firing shots at Akron police officers after a traffic stop.  Akron police detectives said Rydell Brooks, 20, a UA sophomore, was pulled over on a routine traffic stop around midnight Saturday.  Police said Brooks fled from the vehicle and fired several shots at officers, who caught him after a short chase.  He is being held in the Summit County Jail, along with Edward J. Davis Jr., 20, of Cole Avenue, Akron. Davis also was in the car, police said.

From today’s arraignment hearing:

Rydell Brooks, 20, a UA sophomore, and Edward Davis Jr., 20, of Akron, are each charged with attempted murder, felonious assault and carrying a concealed weapon.  Bond was set at $1 million.  Brooks is also charged with driving with a suspended license and excessively tinted windows.  An Akron prosecutor said five guns and two ski masks were found inside Brooks’ 1997 Dodge Caravan following his arrest.  According to police, as officers approached the vehicle on Bellows Street around midnight Saturday they were greeted with gunfire. No one was injured in the gunfire. Police have not indicated that they returned the gunfire.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmkaaaaaaaaaaay…  our first question is how the hell did the police catch someone who was shooting at them without shooting that person themselves?  Really, how does that happen?  They’re claiming attempted murder here – did Brooks run out of ammo?  Did he toss the weapon while being chased?  Did the cops have one of those giant cartoon nets they shot out of a cannon?

Your Last TV Appearance (photo credit:  Akron Beacon-Journal)

And our second question is…  excessively tinted windows?  Is that why the cops stopped Brooks in the first place?  They couldn’t have possibly known that Brooks was driving on a suspended license or that he had a veritable armory in the van, so that was their probable cause?  Talk about walking into a hornet’s nest. 

See Rydell, we saw The Wire last week, that’s why you invest in a hollowed-out compartment behind the glove box.  Oh, and call Levance Fields – he seems to know how to get out of these types of messes.  Heck, he assaulted an officer, grabbed at his weapon, and didn’t even get suspended last year (granted, he didn’t shoot at the guy, but these are mere technicalities). 

If you haven’t heard yet, West Virginia coach and new twenty-millionaire Bob Huggins tripped over a cone (ice cream?  bustier?  oh, traffic, right) at the Charlotte airport today, banging his head against the pavement.  He was taken to a local Charlotte hospital for observation, but he apparently will be fine. 

Must.  Resist.  Urge.  To.  Make.  Tasteless.  Alcohol.  Joke.   

So instead…

There must be a video of this incident somewhere – let us know if you can find it. 

There’s a favorite scene of ours from the 90s comedy “Friday” where the Chris Tucker character (when he was still fresh and funny) finds out that the Ice Cube character (when he was still relevant) got fired while on his day off (see below vid from 1:10 to 1:50). 

We couldn’t help but think of that scene when we heard last night that backup Memphis point guard Andre Allen was suspended from the team and will not be making the trip with his teammates to San Antonio for the Final Four. 

It’s not as if Allen is a key component of the Memphis attack – he only averages 3.3 ppg and 2.1 apg in just over 14 minutes, but he did play in all but one game and jeeeeez, how stupid do you have to be to get suspended for a drug test violation during the week of the F4?? 

Maybe Allen Will Have Time for Giant “L” on His Head This Weekend

Let’s see – spend your last weekend of your senior season playing for the national championship… or, spend it sitting in your dorm with all the other students who couldn’t trek down to San Antone.  Reading this description of Allen as a kid who should have known better makes it all the more frustrating.  Ice Cube would find a kindred spirit in Allen, that’s for sure. 

Photo Credit:  Matt Rose – Nola.com

I just noticed this story this morning, but I have a sneaking suspicion that my colleague rtmsf was aware of this and decided to turn a blind eye to it. . .

As we mentioned before, Wake landed a great 2008 class picking up 3 five-star players (Al-Farouq Aminu, Ty Walker, and Tony Woods). Although all 3 are top prospects, Aminu is widely considered the jewel of the class. Unfortunately, young Mr. Aminu has run into a bit of trouble. According to police reports, on March 14th Aminu went out with 2 of his teammates and shot a woman in the stomach with a BB gun (details of the story here).

Aminu decided to turn himself into police on March 28th (2 days after his 0-point performance at the McDonald’s All-American game) on charges of felony aggravated assault and misdemeanor criminal trespass. It seems like the victim is doing ok and that her husband has a sense of humor as he is quoted in the story saying that “his shooting at my house was better than his shooting at the McDonald’s game”. The victims also appear to be asking the DA to go easy on Aminu and his teammates. For their part Wake Forest and Dino Gaudio decided to issue the standard reply:

We are in the process of gathering all of the information on this incident and it would not be fair to make any statement or judgment until we collect all of the facts.

We (or at least I) will follow this story and keep you posted if and when anything else comes out. Hopefully after rtmsf fires off a passive aggressive e-mail to me, he can offer some legal insight into the case/charges.

We’re hearing out of Lexington today that Billy Gillispie, seven months after his hiring at Kentucky, still hasn’t signed a formal contract.  He’s operating as head coach under his offer letter from AD Mitch Barnhart, which essentially described the terms and conditions of his compensation, but didn’t touch on the many legal ambiguities that arise from reliance on such things.   (memo to MB: next time you send an offer letter out for a contract worth eight figures, you might want to edit it so the word “contact” isn’t used in place of “contract” at least twice that we noticed.  Just sayin’.)

Our first thought other than realizing we’re in the wrong business ($2.3M base) was what’s the holdup?  The Lexington Herald-Leader points out that the offer letter doesn’t have a provision explaining what “termination for cause” means, which could theoretically include prohibitions on anything from shagging coeds Larry Eustachy-style to deweys (of which Billy G. already knows a little something).  Or the problem could have to do with the size of the buyout clause should Gillispie decide to walk away at any point in any of the first four years.   

Taking a cue from John Beilein, who ended up settling his dispute over a buyout with West Virginia for $1.5M when he skedaddled for Michigan, perhaps Gillispie would be best served to not sign that contract after all.  Especially in light of UK’s worst loss in nearly twenty seasons against Gardner-Webb last week.   

Update:  UK nation thinks this is a non-story, and they’re probably right.  ASoB and KSR riff on the situation.   

Since we’ve been on the police blotter kick lately, we may as well continue with an epilogue to one of our previous taser stories.  No, not the Florida John Kerry heckler, bro.  Actually, we’re referring again to Pitt PG Levance Fields, who as you may recall, on Sept. 16 became involved in an altercation with an off-duty police officer:

According to Pittsburgh police reports, Fields, 20, was arguing with an unknown man and using obscene language outside Puro nightclub early on the morning of Sept. 16.  An off-duty officer working security at the club on 19th Street said Fields appeared to have been drinking and ordered him to stop yelling. The officer said Fields punched him in the chest, grabbed his belt and reached for his gun, and the officer and his partner used a Taser gun to subdue and arrest Fields.

Let’s pick out the key piece of information here, in case you scanned over it.

Fields punched him in the chest, grabbed his belt and reached for his gun

Fields Should Thank Pat O’Brien His Attorney

Now, we’re no expert in this sort of thing, but it seems like making a play for a cop’s gun is grounds for all kinds of nastiness to come down on you.  So imagine our surprise when we heard this news from Pittsburgh:

Prosecutors agreed on Tuesday to drop charges of disarming a police officer, public drunkenness and aggravated assault, stemming from Fields’ alleged scuffle with a police officer on Sept. 16. A lesser charge of simple assault will stand.  In exchange, Fields must spend nine months in the Accelerated Rehabilitation Disposition program and serve 50 hours of community service. If he completes the probation without incident, his record will be expunged, defense attorney Robert DelGreco Jr. said.

So Fields went from facing several felonies and a near-guarantee of jail time…  to a lone misdemeanor of simple assault.  And for what penance – fifty hours of community service?  We think we did that much tree planting and mail sorting in one semester for alcohol violations in college. 

Either Mr. DelGreco, Jr., is a master of advocacy on behalf of his clients, or the Allegheny County DA has Pitt season tickets.  Considering the Panthers lost Aaron Gray and Levon Kendall from last year’s Sweet 16 squad, the potential loss of Fields could have made for a boring winter in the Steel City.  As long as Fields can spare 1.28 hrs/week for community service over the next nine months and resist any and all urges to throw haymakers at officers, Pitt basketball should remain a viable entertainment option for Stephen A. Zappala, Jr., and his friends.       

This is too good to be true, and yet it is absolutely true…

A senior defensive back for the Florida Gators is facing burglary charges, just days before Florida’s showdown with #1 LSU. Gainesville Police arrested Earl “Tony” Joiner, 21, early Tuesday morning outside a towing yard. Investigators say Joiner was trying to get his girlfriend’s car out of Watson’s Towing on SW 1st Street. Witnesses told police a man pushed open the heavy gate surrounding the fenced yard, which was not open at the time. The man got into a car and tried to drive away without paying the $76 towing bill. A police officer heard the suspect, identified as Joiner, tell someone on a cell phone, “I am probably about to go to jail, cuz I did push the gate open.”

Paging Frank Tolbert… you might wanna give your SEC comrade a few tips on the art of automobile retrieval. Such as…

1. Show up drunk at the towing compound in the middle of the night.
2. Climb fence.
3. Retrieve car.
4. Drive car through fence.

Joiner did none of these things correctly, and now he’s facing felony burglary charges.