U of Miami's Illicit Booster Benefits

You may have seen yesterday that Ponzi schemester Nevin Shapiro admitted to providing millions of dollars worth of illicit payments and benefits to 72 U of Miami baskeball and football players.

Hurricanes booster Nevin Shapiro described a sustained, eight-year run of rampant NCAA rule-breaking, some of it with the knowledge or direct participation of at least seven coaches from the Miami football and basketball programs. At a cost that Shapiro estimates in the millions of dollars, he said his benefits to athletes included but were not limited to cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his multimillion-dollar homes and yacht, paid trips to high-end restaurants and nightclubs, jewelry, bounties for on-field play (including bounties for injuring opposing players), travel and, on one occasion, an abortion.

Nevin Shapiro said this photo was taken during a basketball fundraiser in 2008, in which the booster donated $50,000 to the program. From left to right are men’s basketball coach Frank Haith, Shapiro and University of Miami president Donna Shalala. Shalala is holding Shapiro’s donation check, which the booster has said was entirely comprised of Ponzi funds.

Also among the revelations were damning details of Shapiro’s co-ownership of a sports agency – Axcess Sports & Entertainment – for nearly his entire tenure as a Hurricanes booster. The same agency that signed two first-round picks from Miami, Vince Wilfork and Jon Beason, and recruited dozens of others while Shapiro was allegedly providing cash and benefits to players. In interviews with federal prosecutors, Shapiro said many of those same players were also being funneled cash and benefits by his partner at Axcess, then-NFL agent and current UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue. Shapiro said he also made payments on behalf of Axcess, including a $50,000 lump sum to Wilfork, as a recruiting tool for the agency.

While perhaps the most egregious case of illicit boosterism that we've seen in years, and one with greater cause for concern due to the involvement of NFL-level agents and pro-football officials, this is neither the first or last we'll see of this until the NCAA recognizes that big money sports will draw this type of behavior. Trying to crack down on players without addressing the larger institutional problems will do little to change the way boosters, coaches, agents and players behave.

If you haven't seen it, check out the HBO Real Sports special, "Dirty Money," and discussion about money in the NCAA. Clips included below.

Dirty Money:


NCAA Athletes and Money, Part 1:


NCAA Athletes and Money, Part 2:


Overtime: