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|t i 1 j ! | j , i i 1 j i |« | | I ] J l t J t x j r j I I £ ■ a ! ! e r c c F f r J 1 j ! e i j a ! " J J a c l F and College Authorities Hit in Cage Fixes N. Y. City Board of Higher Education Releases Final Report on Recent Scandals By STEVE SNIDER United Press Sports Writer NEW YORK, N. Y., May 5.— New York Citys board of higher education blames college authorities as well as the players for the basketball scandals that blazed through the winter and centered on Madison Square Garden. Nobody is spared in the boards final report on its investigation of behind-the-scenes causes of the "fix" cases that resulted in arrests of 18 players, most of them from City College and Long Island University. Basketball, itself, comes in for a rap, but the board reserved its strongest blast at college authorities who permitted players to compete for summer resort teams in the off-season. There, revealed the report, the players were cut in on gambling pools on the games they played and made their first contacts with gamblers and promoters. "Many players ostensibly waited on tables and received wages and tips — time honored jobs for college students — but, actually, they were catered to as basketball stars and played a heavy schedule of games for the hotels," the report said. Earned Up to ,000 in Summer "Their tips would increase enormously after playing a good game the night before. Many of the boys ended the summer with ,G00 to ,000 when the average college student would do well to make 00 to 00 waiting on tables. "College coaches knew of this system, but the players were still called amateurs." City College, only one of New Yorks basketball schools under the jurisdiction of the education board, joined the other colleges in banning resort basketball. Other "fix" factors, the report said, were the pressure to produce winning teams, the use of basketball revenue for other school purposes, and the failure to develop the student educationally, morally and spiritually. "It is obvious," the board said, "that big time intercollegiate basketball has become shocking and scandalous perversion of educational values." Thus: Scholastic records of several players CCNY were progressively lower during the time they were on the team; class attendance records of some of the players were poor. The board welcomed CCNYs withdrawal from Madison Square Garden, but admitted the board and CCNY authorities share the responsibility for "having al- lowed the students to be exposed for so long to conditions they were not strong enough to resist." "The coaches and athletic directors were aware of the pressure upon players due to gambling connected with games at Madison Square Garden," the report added, . but the fact that seven CCNY players took bribes is proof that precautions and warnings were not enough." City College will confine its basketball activities to the campus or armories under complete collegiate control. Long Island University has dropped the sport entirely. Remaining to the Garden: St. Johns, Manhattan and New York U.
