Toledo Point-Shaving Probe Stalling

ESPN crack investigative reporter Mike Fish (along with George J. Tanber) have revealed new details into the Toledo gambling probe. The big news is that that an NCAA representative sent an email to the athletic director in November telling him that the NCAA was done investigating the situation.

The e-mail from [the NCAA's gambling pointwoman, Rachel] Newman-Baker was sent to [Toledo Athletic Director Mike] O'Brien in response to an e-mail sent by O'Brien earlier that day in which O'Brien asked Newman-Baker what the result was of the NCAA probe into the UT-Kent game.

The university tried to retrieve the e-mail from O'Brien's hard drive without success. O'Brien later found a hard copy of the e-mail in a file, according to UT spokesman Tobin Klinger.

In his e-mail, O'Brien wrote: "At the conclusion of the [Oct. 11] meeting, I asked what the next step would be and you indicated you would respond. With the meeting occurring almost a month ago, I thought I should contact you. I would assume that nothing has come of this and that you had nothing to share."

In her response to O'Brien, the first contact she had with him since Oct. 11, Newman-Baker said "no additional investigation was warranted at this time."

Additionally, the man fingered for involvement in the scandal is claiming that investigators and the government have no evidence to prosecute him.

"They got nothing," Ghazi "Gary" Manni said in an interview with USA TODAY. Manni, a Detroit-area resident who describes himself as a gambler, was alleged to have conspired with Toledo football and basketball players to fix games, according to court documents.

But Manni said his contacts with Toledo athletes, including running back Harvey "Scooter" McDougle Jr., was about friendship and had nothing to do with fixing games.

In the meantime, McDougle's father is hoping his son can return to the field and be cleared of the situation.

What's puzzling about all of this is that Vegas is not a place to make mistakes about something like this. They were the first to raise a red flag about some irregularities involving a Toledo football game and as we reported here earlier, there's a 99% chance something unusual or illegal happened in the way of betting for that game.

Back to square one? Maybe.

Previously at FanHouse
Point Shaving Can Only Be Limited
Toledo Gambling Scandal 99% Funny Business
This Is Why Legal Gambling Helps
Point Shaving At Toledo
FanHouse: NCAA Football Gambling