With Miami’s NCAA hearings on horizon, rogue booster has new allegations against Hurricanes
Nevin Shapiro, the convicted Ponzi scheme organizer and former Miami (FL) booster, isn’t done making claims against the Hurricanes program.
A report in the Miami Herald states Shapiro has told Sports Illustrated he used inside information given to him by Miami coaches for gambling. The details from the Herald’s Barry Jackson:
Shapiro alleged that coaches shared with him information --- such as whether a particular injured player would be available to play --- in at least two games, including in 2005 and a 2007 game against North Carolina, which UM lost, 33-27.
According to a third source, the NCAA previously investigated Shapiro’s gambling claims but found no concrete evidence and did not make any allegations regarding gambling in UM’s Notice Of Allegations.That frustrated Shapiro, who believed the NCAA did not adequately investigate his claims involving the matter.
Shapiro’s original claims in 2011 included providing Hurricane players with cash, prostitutes, jewelry, bounties for play on the field, yacht parties and an entire laundry list of impermissible benefits. Shapiro is currently serving a 20-year federal prison sentence for his involvement in a $930 million Ponzi scheme.
The Shapiro/NCAA tag team of justice has been a disaster, with staff members taking part in all kinds of improper conduct during their initial investigation into the Hurricanes. The much-maligned governing body of college sports had to put the brakes on looking into Miami to do an external review of their own conduct, although they are moving forward with an infractions committee hearings starting Thursday in Indianapolis. Over those three days, Miami president Donna Shalala and her staff will answer questions and defend the university’s conduct to the NCAA.
Since the allegations came to light, Miami has already self-imposed bowl bans and suspended multiple players from action. Considering so much of the NCAA’s information in the investigation has been compromised by their staff members’ improper conduct and Shapiro’s allegations about gambling have already been dismissed, it seems like Shalala will have the advantage going into her confrontation with the NCAA. And if her statement from earlier this year is any indication, she’s ready for the fight.
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