NCAA investigating Nevada-Reno betting

[Qbins Missile Crisis]

RENO -- An NCAA investigation of the former Nevada men's golf coach centers on allegations of sports betting, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Documents obtained by the Reno Gazette-Journal through a Freedom of Information Act request show NCAA investigators have searched Rich Merritt's e-mail files for gambling-related keywords, such as ``line,'' ``spread,'' and ``underdog.''

The documents also show that the NCAA has obtained the Merritt family's personal financial records, despite the former coach's objections.

``My wife and I still maintain that this is an invasion of our privacy and feel 'forced' in releasing these records,'' Merritt said in an April 15 memo to a Nevada official.

David A. Didion, the NCAA's director of enforcement, said in an April 21 response that NCAA bylaws required Merritt's full cooperation.

``The enforcement staff takes exception to the language Mr. Merritt has chosen to use in this letter with respect to being `forced' into providing access to his financial records,'' Didion wrote.

Merritt was alleged to have bet on sports at Reno-area casinos in a whistle-blower complaint filed last summer by women's soccer coach Terri Patraw, who was later fired.

John Shukie, the NCAA's assistant director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities, asked the university in an e-mail to search Merritt's e-mail files for 21 keywords related to sports betting, the Gazette-Journal reported.

Other keywords on the list were ``Nevada vs.'' and ``vs. Nevada,'' ``placed,'' ``book,'' ``pool'' and ``bracket.''

Merritt, when told of the search in an e-mail from a Nevada official, expressed confidence in his reply.

``That's fine, I'm not concerned with what they might find,'' he wrote.

The NCAA probe will determine whether Nevada faces any further punishment beyond the school's self-imposed sanctions last fall, when Merritt was suspended for three matches after an internal probe found he provided free meals to athletes and exchanged a frequent-flier airline ticket with an athlete.

The internal investigation found no evidence of sports betting.

In resigning earlier this month, Merritt said he made some ``errors in judgment'' that the athletic department was not aware of, but he declined to elaborate.

Nevada officials have insisted there's no connection between the resignation and the NCAA investigation.

The NCAA does not comment on investigations.

Through its FOI request, the newspaper obtained e-mail and cell-phone records, expense reports, datebook records, staff meeting agendas and inter-office memos pertaining to the NCAA investigation.

Documents also reveal that the Nevada attorney general's office has been involved, and that the NCAA has shown interest in interviewing Merritt's father.

It's a normal practice for the AG's office to investigate such cases, said Wayne Fazzino, an investigator with the office.

``We just wanted to make sure there are no criminal problems,'' Fazzino said. ``We investigate state employees in trouble. Ninety percent of the time nothing ever rises to criminal level.''

Wed 5/28/2008 7:21 PM
Pahrump Valley Times, NV
pahrumpvalleytimes.com