University of Michigan basketball scandal
Encyclopedia
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
, its men's basketball teams
Michigan Wolverines men's basketball
The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team is the intercollegiate men's basketball program representing the University of Michigan. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association . The Wolverines play home basketball games at the...
and basketball team booster Ed Martin. As a result of the investigation, the Wolverine
Michigan Wolverines
The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...
men's basketball program was punished for numerous National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
(NCAA) rules violations, principally involving payments booster Martin made to several players to launder money
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
from an illegal gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
operation. It is one of the largest incidents involving payments to college athletes in American collegiate history. An initial investigation by the school was joined by the NCAA, Big Ten Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI), Internal Revenue Service
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
(IRS), and the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
(DOJ).
The case began when the investigation of an automobile accident during Mateen Cleaves
Mateen Cleaves
Mateen Ahmad Cleaves is an American former professional basketball player who played in six NBA seasons. He is currently a music talent manager....
' 1996 recruiting trip revealed a curious relationship between Martin and the Wolverine basketball program dating back to the 1980s. Several Michigan basketball players were implicated over the next few years and by 1999 some were called before a federal grand jury
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
. Four eventual professional basketball players—Chris Webber
Chris Webber
Mayce Edward Christopher "Chris" Webber, III , nicknamed C-Webb, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, a former All-NBA First Teamer, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former #1 overall NBA Draftee...
, Maurice Taylor
Maurice Taylor
Maurice De Shawn Taylor is an American professional basketball power forward.-College career:Taylor attended the University of Michigan. The athletic forward, from Henry Ford High School in Detroit, burst onto the national scene during the 1994 Maui Invitational with fellow freshman Maceo Baston...
, Robert Traylor
Robert Traylor
Robert DeShaun "Tractor" Traylor was an American professional basketball player.-High school and college:...
and Louis Bullock
Louis Bullock
Louis Bullock, Jr. is an American professional basketball player. He is currently with the pro club CB Cajasol Sevilla in Spain....
—were discovered to have borrowed a total of $616,000 from Martin. During the investigation, Webber claimed not to have had any financial relationship with Martin, but eventually confessed to taking loans from Martin. He was both fined in the legal system and briefly suspended by the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
after performing public service.
In 1997, coach Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher is an American college basketball coach currently at San Diego State University.Fisher attended Illinois State University, where he helped lead the Redbirds to the 1967 Division II Final Four. After school, he became a high school coach in Park Forest, Illinois. In 1979, he accepted...
was fired for his involvement in violations relating to the scandal. However, subsequently, the NCAA investigation did not find him culpable of significant wrongdoing related to the scandal. By the fall of 2002, it was obvious that the four players were in fact guilty of taking money from Martin, and had thus compromised their amateur status. In response, Michigan placed the basketball program on two years' probation. It also withdrew from postseason consideration for the 2002–03 season, vacated all or part of five past seasons and removed the players' names and achievements from its record book. A few months later, the NCAA accepted these punishments, doubled both the probation period and the post-season ineligibility, penalized the school one scholarship for four seasons, and ordered Michigan to disassociate from the four guilty players until 2012 (Webber's ban extends another year ending in 2013). The punishment cost the 2002–2003 team its post-season eligibility, cost past teams the 1997 National Invitation Tournament
1997 National Invitation Tournament
-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Connecticut 74, Arkansas 64Michigan later forfeited its entire 1996-97 schedule after Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor and Louis Bullock were found to have taken money from a Michigan booster....
and the 1998 Big Ten Tournament
Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament is held annually at the end of the men's college basketball regular season. The tournament has been played each year since 1998. The winner of the tournament is designated the Big Ten Tournament Champion, and receives the conference's automatic...
championships as well as appearances in the 1992
1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 19, 1992, and ended with the championship game on April 6 in Minneapolis, Minnesota...
and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
The 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 18, 1993, and ended with the championship game on April 5 in New Orleans, Louisiana...
Final Four
Final four
Final Four isa sports term that is commonly applied to the last four teams remaining in a playoff tournament, most notably NCAA Division I college basketball tournaments. The term usually refers to the four teams who compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final round...
s. It cost Chris Webber his All-American 1993 honors, Traylor his MVP awards in the 1997 NIT and 1998 Big Ten Tournament, as well as Bullock's standing as the school's third all-time leading scorer and all-time leader in free throws and the Big Ten's all-time leader in 3-point field goals (surpassed in 2011). The additional year of post-season ineligibility was overturned on appeal.
Background
In the early morning of February 17, 1996, a Ford ExplorerFord Explorer
The Ford Explorer is a sport-utility vehicle sold in North America and built by the Ford Motor Company since 1990, as a replacement for the smaller but related Ford Bronco II. It is manufactured in Chicago, Illinois...
driven by either Taylor or Traylor, depending on the source, went out of control while returning along M-14
M-14 (Michigan highway)
M-14 is a east–west state trunkline highway in the southeastern portion of the US state of Michigan. Entirely freeway, it connects Ann Arbor with Detroit by way of connecting with I-96.-Route description:...
from a party in Detroit, 40 miles (64.4 km) east of Michigan's campus in Ann Arbor. Among the passengers was high school star Mateen Cleaves, who was on his official recruiting visit. When an investigation revealed that the trip included a visit to Ed Martin's home, the University investigated his relationship with the basketball program. Martin was reportedly returning to Ann Arbor from Detroit with Traylor, Taylor, Cleaves, Willie Mitchell
Willie Mitchell (basketball)
Willie Dion Mitchell III is an American professional basketball player. In high school, he was the 1994 Mr. Basketball of Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan and the University of Alabama-Birmingham before becoming a professional. He has had multiple stints in the Continental...
, Bullock, and Ron Oliver after a party that included drugs
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
, strippers
Striptease
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner...
and alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
. Accounts of the party vary. By some accounts the party was hosted by Martin, but by other accounts Martin's house was a stop on the way to a party at Detroit's Westin Hotel. Martin, a retired Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
electrician, provided all the players with money. During the rollover accident, Traylor broke his arm and was lost for the season. Mitchell transferred from Michigan to the University of Alabama-Birmingham
UAB Blazers men's basketball
The UAB Blazers men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I men's college basketball, and have competed in Conference USA since 1995...
after his junior season (1995–1996). Bullock, Cleaves (who eventually signed with rival Michigan State
Michigan State Spartans men's basketball
The Michigan State Spartans men's basketball team represents Michigan State University and competes in the Big Ten Conference of NCAA Division I. The team currently plays at the Breslin Student Events Center...
), Taylor, and Traylor all went on to be drafted by National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
(NBA) teams. Bullock played in various foreign leagues but never in the NBA.
The NCAA uses a statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
of four years. Thus, at any time the NCAA can open or re-open an investigation for an infraction occurring within the last four years. However, NCAA convention is to date violations based on when they learned about the infraction. Thus, events that had occurred far more than four years prior to the investigation came under its purview. The initial accident reports revealed several inconsistencies and violations that induced expanded investigation.
Michigan admitted to the secondary NCAA violation of transporting a recruit more than 30 miles (48.3 km) from campus. Questions were immediately raised about whether Taylor actually owned the sport utility vehicle
Sport utility vehicle
A sport utility vehicle is a generic marketing term for a vehicle similar to a station wagon, but built on a light-truck chassis. It is usually equipped with four-wheel drive for on- or off-road ability, and with some pretension or ability to be used as an off-road vehicle. Not all four-wheel...
. The NCAA asked for leasing documentation of Taylor's vehicle and Michigan investigated the registrations of its players' vehicles. The University soon required that all the vehicles driven by its players be part of a special vehicle registration program.
Martin's relationship with the program
In March 1997, Michigan and the Big Ten released the results of an investigation of Martin's relationship with the school. The investigation determined that Martin had nurtured a relationship that involved some minor violations. The violations that were published were that Martin was present at a recruit's home during a visit by head coach Fisher; and he'd given a U-M player a birthday cake. Fisher prevented Martin from committing serious additional violations by keeping him from placing a deposit on an apartment for a player. He also stopped Martin from buying airplane tickets for another player's family. A second October 1997 private investigation also failed to reveal any large violations.1980s
Martin befriended Perry WatsonPerry Watson
Perry Watson is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Detroit Mercy. Watson took an indefinite medical leave of absence. Watson resigned on March 5, 2008. Perry Watson was an important character witness in the University of Michigan...
, coach for Southwestern High School
Southwestern High School (Michigan)
Southwestern High School is a high school in southwest Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is part of the Detroit Public Schools district.Brewster Homes/Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, Detroit public housing, is zoned to this school.-Notable alumni:...
of Detroit, and provided gifts to the team's players. At this time, he began a close friendship with Bill Frieder
Bill Frieder
Bill Frieder is a former basketball coach at the University of Michigan and Arizona State University . Just before the 1989 NCAA Tournament, Frieder announced that he would leave Michigan for Arizona State at the end of the season...
, Michigan's coach from 1981 to 1989. When Frieder recruited a Southwestern High School prospect, Martin was present. Martin then began attending Michigan games with the prospect's father when the student enrolled. Martin also attended games and practices with Watson. Martin also developed a relationship with George Raveling
George Raveling
George Raveling is a former college men's basketball coach and FOX Sports Net color commentator. He was the head coach at Washington State University , the University of Iowa , and the University of Southern California . The Washington, D.C. native attended St...
who regularly recruited from Detroit high schools for the Iowa Hawkeyes
Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball
The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represents the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, as a member of the Big Ten Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. They currently play in 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena, along with the school's women's basketball, wrestling, and...
. He also received complementary tickets to Iowa games while Raveling was coach. Martin attempted to give gifts and cash to Frieder recruit Terry Mills
Terry Mills
Terry Richard Mills is a retired American professional basketball player at the power forward position.After a standout career at Romulus High School, Mills was named 1986 Mr. Basketball of Michigan...
.
After Frieder left Michigan in 1989, Martin immediately formed an equally close relationship with his successor, Fisher. Martin gave Fisher's family gifts.
Webber
Martin noticed Webber during a middle school game. Martin attended Webber's church, where Webber's father was deaconDeacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
and began fostering a relationship by making frequent visits to the Webber family home. Between 1988 and 1993 Martin gave Webber about $280,000. Eventually, Webber would confess to having received and repaid only $38,200, an amount identified via a specific transaction tied to Webber.
1990s
In September 1996, athletic director Joe Roberson learned that during the previous month Martin had tried to place deposits on apartments for Traylor and Louis BullockLouis Bullock
Louis Bullock, Jr. is an American professional basketball player. He is currently with the pro club CB Cajasol Sevilla in Spain....
. Martin had also offered airline tickets to Bullock's parents so they could attend a tournament in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. It emerged that Fisher had known about Martin's actions at the time. While Fisher had ordered the deposits retrieved and made sure the tickets weren't used, he didn't tell anyone in the athletic or compliance offices, as he was required to do. As a result of Roberson's findings, he ordered interviews of the basketball team and team coaches.
The March 1997 Big Ten report showed that official University phone records documented that the coaching staff called Martin's home 39 times. Between the 1991–92 and the 1993–94 seasons, records showed that Martin received 97 tickets to Michigan basketball games either for free or under his special arrangement to have tickets made available for purchase. Watson joined the Michigan basketball coaching staff in 1991. The October 1997 investigation revealed that Fisher had provided Martin with passes for sixteen complimentary tickets from 1994 to 1997, and that his secretary and other clerical workers made out ten more such passes. In addition, six passes were signed with the PW initials of departed coach Watson. Watson denied making such passes available and a handwriting analysis matched five of the six to Fisher. Fisher was fired when the investigation became public on October 10, 1997, just a week before the start of basketball practices.
In June 1997, the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
revealed sources that claimed both Chris Webber and Taylor had received at least $100,000 from Martin, but that Webber had repaid the money after turning pro. A pattern of Martin befriending young basketball stars eventually became clear. Martin paid $280,000 to Webber from 1988 (when he was a ninth-grader at Detroit Country Day School
Detroit Country Day School
Detroit Country Day School is a private, secular school located in four campuses in Oakland County, Michigan, north of Detroit. The administrative offices, facility services, safety and security services, and the upper school are located in a campus in Beverly Hills, along with the middle school...
) to 1993 (his sophomore year at Michigan, after which he turned pro). Martin also befriended Traylor as a freshman in high school. Martin was at Traylor's home when Fisher made a recruiting visit. Between 1994 (his senior year at Murray-Wright High School in Detroit) and 1998 (his junior year at Michigan, after which he turned pro), Martin gave Traylor about $160,000. Martin befriended Taylor when he was in high school. Between 1995 and 1998 (during his time at Michigan), Martin gave Taylor about $105,000. Since Bullock went to high school in Maryland, he did not know Martin before coming to Michigan. Martin gave Bullock about $71,000 during his four years at Michigan which ended in 1999.
Roberson also learned that during the 1992 Final Four, Fisher made two of the limited supply of team rooms available to Martin. Martin gave one hotel room paid for by Michigan to Webber's father—a violation of NCAA rules. For his part, Martin denied any wrongdoing when questioned by an NCAA enforcement representative. However, he later refused to cooperate with the University or the NCAA, forcing Michigan to ban him from any contact with the athletic program in March 1997.
Raid and subpoenas
After the Michigan/Big Ten investigation and the private investigation, no serious violations arose. For example, Robert Traylor, Chris Webber, Jalen RoseJalen Rose
Jalen Anthony Rose is a retired American professional basketball player, who currently works as a sports analyst for the sports television network ESPN...
, and Maurice Taylor were cleared in October 1997. In April 1999, the FBI and IRS raided several Detroit-area homes to stop a numbers game
Numbers game
Numbers game, also known as a numbers racket, policy racket or Italian lottery, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day...
operation in the area's Ford plants. Martin's home was one of the targets; he was found with a loaded gun, gambling records and $20,000 in cash in his home. The authorities were investigating Martin's alleged numbers game operation at Ford plants and whether Martin had provided Michigan basketball players with money and gifts. Another item that they seized was a Western Union
Western Union
The Western Union Company is a financial services and communications company based in the United States. Its North American headquarters is in Englewood, Colorado. Up until 2006, Western Union was the best-known U.S...
moneygram
MoneyGram
MoneyGram International, Inc. is a US-based, Global Money transfer company, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It has Global Operations Centers in Saint Louis Park, Minnesota and Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Global Call Center Operations in Denver, Colorado and regional and local offices around the...
from Martin to Traylor. In the course of a federal investigation, evidence turned up that Martin had given cash payments and other benefits to several Michigan players and Detroit-area high school prospects starting in the early 1980s. As a result of the investigations, the Detroit Free Press
Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The Sunday edition is entitled the Sunday Free Press. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep"...
reported in May 1999, that a federal grand jury subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
ed several Michigan basketball players to investigate the relationship between Martin and the basketball program.
Former Michigan basketball player Albert White
Albert White (basketball)
Albert White is a professional American basketball player who last played for the London Lightning of the National Basketball League of Canada. Before joining the Lightning, White had played in a variety of domestic and foreign basketball leagues. In high school, he was one of the most highly...
was implicated in early investigations for having accepted US$37,000, but he was not named in later indictments. It was not clear how much of the money White received directly and how much was given to his friends and family to influence his decision to attend Michigan. Although White was one of several players captured on federal wiretaps and interviewed by both the FBI and IRS, he cooperated fully and did not need to hire a lawyer. Although he was not implicated, he transferred from Michigan to play for the Missouri Tigers men's basketball
Missouri Tigers men's basketball
The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team represents the University of Missouri in the Big 12 Conference. The Tigers are located in Columbia, Missouri. The team last played in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament in 2011. The Missouri Tigers men's basketball team plays its home games at...
team after clashing with Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher is an American college basketball coach currently at San Diego State University.Fisher attended Illinois State University, where he helped lead the Redbirds to the 1967 Division II Final Four. After school, he became a high school coach in Park Forest, Illinois. In 1979, he accepted...
.
Ed Martin
In late 1999, Martin originally agreed to a plea bargain in which he agreed to disclose information about the payments. The agreement with the United States AttorneyUnited States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
's office was nearly finalized in January 2000. The paperwork for the plea agreement was to be finalized in March 2000 for the former Ford Motor Company employee to plead guilty to one count of federal gambling and one count of income tax evasion. He and his son, Carlton, backed out in May 2000, preferring to take their chances at trial due to the likelihood of light punishment for first-time offenders. Under the plea agreement in which they would have forfeited $100,000 and faced 6–15 months in prison, they would have been able to keep their homes. If found guilty at trial, they could have received up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 per count, but they would not have to agree to cooperate with the University investigation.
Less than a week after Martin backed out of his plea agreement, several former players were subpoenaed to testify before grand juries. In August 2000, Traylor and Bullock, by this time professional basketball players in the NBA and Italy respectively, were confirmed to have taken payments from Martin. Many of the payments came after the 1997 banning of Martin from contact with the team and the firing of Steve Fisher. The two players cooperated with federal authorities and admitted to receiving money. Traylor, Bullock, Webber, Rose and Taylor all testified before the grand jury. Fisher, the current San Diego State University
San Diego State University
San Diego State University , founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, is the largest and oldest higher education facility in the greater San Diego area , and is part of the California State University system...
coach, testified before a federal grand jury investigating Martin. Also testifying were former Michigan assistants Perry Watson
Perry Watson
Perry Watson is an American college basketball coach and the former head men's basketball coach at the University of Detroit Mercy. Watson took an indefinite medical leave of absence. Watson resigned on March 5, 2008. Perry Watson was an important character witness in the University of Michigan...
, Brian Dutcher and Scott Perry. Martin and Watson had been close friends when Watson was head coach at Detroit Southwestern High School, with Martin often sitting on the bench along with assistant coaches. Perry, who had arranged Cleaves' recruiting trip, had known Martin since 1977 and coached under Fisher from 1993–1997. Many players and observers believed Martin was Watson's uncle, leading to Martin's schoolyard nickname of "Uncle Ed." Martin and Watson had a falling-out in the early 1990s, shortly after Watson joined the Michigan staff. Webber's father also gave sealed testimony before the grand jury.
On March 21, 2002—after almost three years of testimony—the grand jury returned an eight-count indictment charging Martin, his wife Hilda and their friend Clarence Malvo with running an illegal gambling business at the Ford River Rouge plant, money laundering and conspiracy to launder money. According to the indictment, Martin made illicit loans totalling $616,000 to Webber, Taylor, Bullock and Traylor to launder money from an illegal numbers game
Numbers game
Numbers game, also known as a numbers racket, policy racket or Italian lottery, is an illegal lottery played mostly in poor neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a bettor attempts to pick three digits to match those that will be randomly drawn the following day...
at Detroit–area auto plants. The loans were made with the understanding that they would be repaid once the players turned pro. Martin was indicted for having paid Webber a total of $280,000 between 1988–1993, which included time from Webber's freshman year at Detroit Country Day School
Detroit Country Day School
Detroit Country Day School is a private, secular school located in four campuses in Oakland County, Michigan, north of Detroit. The administrative offices, facility services, safety and security services, and the upper school are located in a campus in Beverly Hills, along with the middle school...
in Birmingham, Michigan
Birmingham, Michigan
Birmingham is a city in Oakland County of the U.S. state of Michigan and an affluent suburb of Detroit. As of the 2010 census, the population was 20,103...
to his sophomore year at Michigan.
Martin, his wife, Hilda, and Clarence Malvo were under federal indictment for conspiracy to engage in illegal gambling and could have faced up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Mr. Martin had also been charged with seven additional counts: having an illegal gambling business, conspiracy to launder money, three counts of laundering money and two counts of using money from illegal activities. The charge against Hilda Martin was dropped as part of a plea agreement. On April 8, 2002, Malvo pleaded guilty to grand jury perjury
Perjury
Perjury, also known as forswearing, is the willful act of swearing a false oath or affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to a judicial proceeding. That is, the witness falsely promises to tell the truth about matters which affect the outcome of the...
for testifying that he did not work for Martin. On May 28, 2002 Martin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to launder money. He agreed to cooperate with investigations by the government, Michigan and the NCAA. The other seven charges against Martin were dropped in addition to those against Hilda. Furthermore, Martin was barred from associating with the team by a ban, which made any continuing financial relationship with him in violation of NCAA rules and to be considered a new violation.
Chris Webber
In September 2002, Webber was indicted on five charges, including obstruction of justice and lying to a federal grand jury, for having misrepresented his relationship with Martin. Each charge was punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He vowed to fight the charges.Martin pleaded guilty to running an illegal lottery
Lottery
A lottery is a form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize.Lottery is outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments...
at the Ford Motors plant he worked at to provide proceeds for the players. Martin testified that he paid Webber $280,000 in cash and gifts, but as of January 2003 Webber denied receipt of money from Martin and maintained that he had testified truthfully to a grand jury in 2000 on such matters. Martin stated that there was always an understanding that the money would be repaid after the players became professionals. In the 2000 grand jury investigation, Webber had been asked about whether his off-campus apartment rent had been paid by Martin and whether he had received spending money, jewelry, clothing or a stereo. Webber generally responded by saying either that he could not recall or that he did not think he had received such gifts. However, prosecutors say that Webber, after turning professional, gave Martin
Chris Webber, his father, Mayce Webber, and aunt, Charlene Johnson, were also indicted on charges of having lied to a federal grand jury regarding dealings with Martin. The University had attempted three previous investigations and was not successful at gathering enough evidence to proceed further until the federal government got involved. In January 2003, the federal prosecutors filed more detailed indictments against Webber and his relatives for obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
and perjury.
Ed Martin died of a suspected pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the main artery of the lung or one of its branches by a substance that has travelled from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream . Usually this is due to embolism of a thrombus from the deep veins in the legs, a process termed venous thromboembolism...
on February 14, 2003. He was awaiting sentencing at the time of his death. Malvo, who confessed to taking bets and paying off winning wagers for Martin, pleaded guilty April 8, 2002 to lying before a federal grand jury. He admitted to telling a grand jury in October 1999 that he bet money but did not work for Martin. He was sentenced in August 2002 to two years' probation.
Martin's death largely took the air out of the federal perjury case against Webber. In July 2003, on the day before jury selection in the case was due to begin, Webber plead guilty to the reduced charge of criminal contempt in order to avoid a possible jail sentence. He admitted to having received and repaid $38,200. The deal was subject to a discretionary fine and possible classification of the infraction as a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
by the United States District Court
United States district court
The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...
Judge Nancy Edmunds who would rule in September 2003. In exchange for the plea all other charges were dropped against him as were all charges against his father. The charges against Webber's aunt had been dropped after Martin's death.
Self-imposed
By the fall of 2002, it had become clear that Michigan's basketball program was guilty of major violations. In response, Michigan decided to impose its own sanctions on the program. Initially, Michigan announced it would forfeit every game in which the four players appeared. On November 7, 2002; Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman and athletic director Bill Martin announced that the school was imposing sanctions of its own on the basketball program. Among them:- No postseason play in 2002–03, even though the players who took Martin's money were no longer at the school.
- The school vacated the entire 1992–93 season and every game it played from the 1995–96 season through the 1998–99 season. This included the 1997 National Invitation Tournament1997 National Invitation Tournament-Semifinals & Finals:*Third Place - Connecticut 74, Arkansas 64Michigan later forfeited its entire 1996-97 schedule after Robert Traylor, Maurice Taylor and Louis Bullock were found to have taken money from a Michigan booster....
title and the 1998 Big Ten TournamentBig Ten Conference Men's Basketball TournamentThe Big Ten Conference men's basketball tournament is held annually at the end of the men's college basketball regular season. The tournament has been played each year since 1998. The winner of the tournament is designated the Big Ten Tournament Champion, and receives the conference's automatic...
title. It also vacated its two Final Four games in 1992 and its entire NCAA tournament record in 1993, 1996, 1998 and 1999. There is a difference between forfeiting a game and vacating a game; a vacated game does not result in the other school being credited with a win. This included virtually the entire career of Fisher's successor, Brian EllerbeBrian EllerbeBrian Hersholt Ellerbe is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant at DePaul.The Seat Pleasant, Maryland native served as head men's basketball coach at Loyola-Maryland from 1994 to 1997, and then at the University of Michigan from 1997 to 2001, where he posted a 62-60 record...
. However, it did not include all games that Webber played or was eligible because all but the final two games of his freshman year were retained. - Returning $450,000 received from the NCAA for postseason play in 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999.
- Banners commemorating the 1992 and 1993 Final Four runs, the 1997 NIT title and 1998 Big Ten Tournament title would be removed from the rafters at Crisler ArenaCrisler ArenaCrisler Arena, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, is the home arena for the University of Michigan men's and women's basketball teams. Constructed in 1967, the arena seats 13,751 spectators. It is named for Herbert O...
. - Two years' probation.
Coleman described what happened as "wrong, plain and simple." She also said, "I am determined that nothing like this will ever happen again at Michigan."
At 8:00 A.M. that same day, the four banners were removed from the rafters. Four days later, the athletic department officially deleted all mention of Webber, Taylor, Traylor and Bullock from the school's athletic records. These included Traylor's MVP awards in the 1997 NIT and 1998 Big Ten Tournament, as well as Bullock's standing as the Big Ten's all-time leader in 3-point field goals and the school's third all-time leading scorer and all-time leader free throw
Free throw
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...
s made. The deletions came because the payments may have compromised their amateur status. Several players not implicated in the scandal continue to be listed among the school's honorees such as Rob Pelinka
Rob Pelinka
Robert Todd Pelinka, Jr. is an American lawyer, National Basketball Association sports agent and former college basketball player from Lake Bluff, Illinois . He is best known as Kobe Bryant's agent and President and CEO of The Landmark Sports Agency, LLC...
(Walter Byers Scholarship
Walter Byers Scholarship
The Walter Byers Scholar program is a scholarship program that recognizes the top male and female scholar-athlete in NCAA sports and that is awarded annually by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . It is considered to be the NCAA's highest academic award...
, 1993), Juwan Howard
Juwan Howard
Juwan Antonio Howard is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association . The Heat were his eighth different NBA team. He was drafted fifth overall in the 1994 NBA Draft by the Washington Bullets...
and Jalen Rose
Jalen Rose
Jalen Anthony Rose is a retired American professional basketball player, who currently works as a sports analyst for the sports television network ESPN...
(All-American, 1994) and Jerod Ward
Jerod Ward
Jerod Davanta Ward is an American professional basketball player, currently playing for Adepal in Spain Leb Oro.Ward was the #1 recruit in the nation coming out of Clinton, Mississippi in 1994. He signed with the University of Michigan and comprised part of its highly-touted Fab Five II that...
(All-Big Ten Tournament Team, 1998).
Michigan finished the 2002–2003 season with a 17–13 record, but sat out both that year's NCAA and NIT tournaments due to the self-imposed postseason ban.
NCAA
On May 8, 2003; the NCAA accepted Michigan's sanctions. It also imposed an additional two years' probation and docked the school one scholarshipScholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
a year from 2004–2005 until 2007–2008. It also ordered the school to disassociate itself from Webber, Traylor, Taylor and Bullock until 2013. The NCAA also barred Michigan from postseason play for the 2003–04 season. Infractions committee chairman Thomas Yeager, who had come very close to imposing the "death penalty" on the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
football program a few months earlier, called the Martin/Michigan affair "one of the three or four most egregious violations of NCAA bylaws" ever. The disassociation meant that Michigan could not accept donations or recruiting assistance from any of the players for ten years. The NCAA criticized Fisher for allowing Martin access to the program, but did not sanction him. The University announced its intention to appeal the additional one year suspension from post-season play. As a result of the sanctions, Ellerbe's successor, Tommy Amaker
Tommy Amaker
Harold Tommy Amaker is the current head coach of the Harvard University men's basketball team. He has also served as head basketball coach for the University of Michigan men's basketball team and at Seton Hall University. He played point guard and later served as an assistant coach at Duke...
, received a four-year contract extension to compensate for the duties while under probation, and Bernard Robinson, Jr.
Bernard Robinson (basketball)
Bernard Gregory Robinson, Jr. is an American professional basketball player.After a career at the University of Michigan, where he helped lead the Wolverines to the 2004 NIT title, Robinson was a second round draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats in the 2004 NBA Draft...
had the right to transfer without sitting out a year because, as the only scholarship senior, the ineligibility extended for his entire remaining scholarship tenure.
Vacated and forfeited games
The following is the official NCAA record of affected games:| Season | Coach | Record as played | Actual adjusted record | Regular season Vacated | Tournament Vacated |
| 1992 | Steve Fisher Steve Fisher Steve Fisher is an American college basketball coach currently at San Diego State University.Fisher attended Illinois State University, where he helped lead the Redbirds to the 1967 Division II Final Four. After school, he became a high school coach in Park Forest, Illinois. In 1979, he accepted... |
25–9 | 24–9 | 1–0 | |
| 1993 | Fisher | 31–5 | 0–4 | 26–0 | 5–1 |
| 1996 | Fisher | 21–11 | 1–10 | 20–0 | 0–1 |
| 1997 | Fisher | 24–11 | 0–11 | 24–0 | |
| 1998 | Brian Ellerbe Brian Ellerbe Brian Hersholt Ellerbe is an American basketball coach, currently an assistant at DePaul.The Seat Pleasant, Maryland native served as head men's basketball coach at Loyola-Maryland from 1994 to 1997, and then at the University of Michigan from 1997 to 2001, where he posted a 62-60 record... |
25–9 | 0–8 | 24–0 | 1–1 |
| 1999 | Ellerbe | 12–19 | 0–19 | 12–0 |
N.B.: The 1996 team gained 1 win by forfeit.
Fallout
In September 2003, the NCAA reversed its decision to add a second year of postseason ineligibility after hearing an appeal by the University. Also in September 2003, Judge Edmunds deferred sentencing until she could monitor Webber's service of 300 hours of community serviceCommunity service
Community service is donated service or activity that is performed by someone or a group of people for the benefit of the public or its institutions....
at a middle-school literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
program for two summers that she ordered. The literacy program is a six-week program and Webber was expected to work at least 150 hours each summer. Also in September the University announced it sought $695,000 in restitution from Webber. Webber was the only involved athlete that the University sought restitution from in part because he was the only one who confessed to lying to a grand jury. Webber stated that he did not feel the University's request was appropriate because he had not stolen from the University.
During the 2003-2004 NBA season, Webber was on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...
until February. When he returned, the NBA suspended him for three games for his guilty plea. In September 2005, Judge Edmunds ruled that the conviction should be treated as a misdemeanor
Misdemeanor
A misdemeanor is a "lesser" criminal act in many common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished much less severely than felonies, but theoretically more so than administrative infractions and regulatory offences...
and that Webber should pay the maximum fine for such an offense, which was $100,000. This ruling came after Webber served 330 hours of public service and accumulated $78,000 of related out-of-pocket expenses.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), following the release of court testimony, requested that Webber's high school, Detroit Country Day (DCD), forfeit the three state titles won with Webber in the lineup (1989–91). DCD conducted its own investigation, then called a press conference on March 2, 2004, to announce there was no "credible evidence" Webber's amateur status had been violated. When the MHSAA gave them the option of forfeiting games Webber played they decided not to. Traylor's alma mater, Murray-Wright High, forfeited its entire 1994–95 season—Traylor's senior year.