Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990 TAG: 9003022911
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Why?
Months ago - historically, for that matter - the same people stonewalled investigators.
Now, shockingly, upon request, they have been overwhelmingly helpful.
Salvatore Di Fazio is the agent for Charles Shackleford, the former North Carolina State basketball player who stands accused of accepting money while he was a collegian.
You want to know how much Shack received? "$65,000," Di Fazio said willingly.
You want to know who provided the money? Sure, no problem, said Di Fazio, first to a Raleigh newspaper, then on Wednesday to N.C. State's attorney, an NCAA official and a member of the State Bureau of Investigation.
You think it only happened Shack's junior (and final) season at N.C. State? Oh, no, Di Fazio volunteered. He also got money as a sophomore, which made him ineligible to play basketball.
And, you, Bob Kramer. Di Fazio says you loaned Shack the money. You say you're a businessman, but your office consists of one room in New Jersey and a plain desk. Did it really happen?
Sure, Kramer concedes. What's more, I have receipts. It was just a loan. I wanted Shack to stay in college and get his degree. Sure, I knew he evaded the admissions director, that he could spell dog but struggled with cat, but, hey, he is 6 feet 11.
And, Shack, now that you are playing for the NBA's New Jersey Nets and are hospitalized with an infected elbow, do you deny you received all that money?
No, man. Hey, I was just a poor college kid and I didn't have any bread. The man (Kramer) took care of me. And why not? I was helping bring in the big bucks for Jimmy V (coach Jim Valvano), and who cares if I didn't know how to get to algebra class?
Who cares if I can't even spell algebra?
And, Kelsey Weems, what about you? You were Shack's roommate. You took a semester off and they said it was for personal reasons, but everybody knows you were in drug rehab.
And, Kelsey, that was you on ABC-TV Wednesday night, poorly disguised with an altered voice and a distorted face. Sure it was. That's what all the sources at State said Thursday.
You're playing in the bush leagues, the Continental Basketball Association, Kelsey. You're the Quad Cities kid. You deny any knowledge of the matter, but, Kelsey, was that a volunteer appearance on television?
You - I mean you, the readers - think this stinks? It does.
They are suggesting point shaving at N.C. State, some 30 years after Don Gallagher, Stan Niewierowski and Terry Litchfield conspired to fix Wolfpack games.
And, you, Kelsey, suggest without contriteness in the ABC interview that you would do it again, because the basketball program is bringing in thousands of dollars and the players are getting none of it.
Your former coach, Jimmy V, is an entrepeneur. He makes seven figures a year. Until this year, he wasn't often around.
The players could peddle shoes and sell complimentary tickets and, it appeared, nobody cared. The players didn't graduate, but they played hard, and usually well, and, hey, that was the system.
Now they are saying that State shaved points in at least three games - against Florida in the '87 NCAA Tournament, Wake Forest in the '88 regular-season finale and Murray State in the NCAAs that year.
They are saying Shack didn't guard Ralph Kitley of Wake Forest, who scored 22 points just once in his career - against the 'Pack.
They are saying Shack had help - perhaps from Teviin Binns, Bennie Bolton, and you, Kelsey.
Shack concedes he took the money, which made him ineligible. Perhaps it will cost State $1 million in NCAA Tournament earnings. Perhaps the school will have to sue Shack, because he's the only guy bringing home a big paycheck.
And, at State, the only concern is whether - when? - Jimmy V will be fired.
Nobody asks about reports that some players had a big drug habit and couldn't pay off, and that the gamblers called in the markers.
The odor is obvious. The sport, which didn't need the problems, is reeling. And everybody is praying it is an isolated case, involving a bunch of people in Wolfpack red who never should have been in college in the first place.
But the rumors persist. There is the possibility the fix was in elsewhere.
And you thought Buster Douglas threw a knockout punch.
by CNB