Former University of Toledo Player Admits to Point Shaving

It appears that a former college basketball player at the University of Toledo might have conceded guilt and is cooperating with investigators after being indicted on federal charges related to point shaving.

At least the fact that a November sentencing date has been scheduled for Sammy Villegas, a former guard whose career ended in 2006, would suggest as much. Other targets of the investigation are a Detroit grocer and a Detroit businessman who reportedly has had ties to illegal gambling for decades.

Some lawmakers have tried to impose a federal ban on betting on college games, principally in Las Vegas, contending that even legal sports wagering there leads to corruption.

The problem, however, is that the Internet has long since let that genie out of the bottle. Even without legal sports gambling in Vegas taking bets on college games, the betting would continue online and the potential for game fixing would be just as strong.

There is probably no way to stop all game fixing, but an intelligent and readily available approach is for regulators and investigators to cooperate with legal sports books to help spot suspicious gambling trends, in live casinos and online, and to treat the legitimate sports books as true partners in keeping the games honest.