SI Update
SCORECARD, APRIL 9, 2007
LATE LAST month running back Harvey (Scooter) McDougle was declared academically ineligible by the University of Toledo. That's the least of his problems. Four months ago McDougle was at the center of a point-shaving scandal when he was charged by federal prosecutors with betting on a Toledo football game and conspiring to fix football and basketball games. The charges were dropped a month later, but the U.S. attorney's office says the investigation is continuing.
McDougle (below) met with prosecutors, and although he allegedly admitted to receiving cash and gifts from gambler Ghazi (Gary) Manni, he denied gambling or fixing games. (Manni has not been charged.) Even if McDougle, who led Toledo in rushing as a sophomore in 2004, is not charged again, that admission could signal the end of his once promising Rockets career: The NCAA is investigating whether he and other players received improper gifts. Ohio's attorney general has appointed a special counsel for the Toledo athletic department who will interview every men's basketball and football player. If McDougle's father gets his way, his son won't even bother with that probe. "If it were up to me, he'd be gone," Harvey McDougle Sr. told the Toledo Blade. "I'm so sick of that university, I don't even know what to do with all of this."
PHOTO
BRETT HANSBAUER/US PRESSWIRE (MCDOUGLE)