"Sherman White’s association with the point-shaving scandal was the
bane of his existence. It gnawed at him for all of his life, and that’s why
he tried so hard to work with so many young men."
- Ellen White
"All you have in life is your reputation and your integrity.
Don’t jeopardize your future by cheating today."
- Friar Telly, II
Sherman White (1929 -2011)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Sherman White, a 1950s college basketball star at Long
Island University who served jail time for point shaving, has died. He was 82.
White died of congestive heart failure on Aug. 4 at his home in Piscataway,
N.J., his widow, Ellen, said Friday.
The 6-foot-8 White was one of the nation’s best college players for LIU in
the late 1940s, and led the nation in scoring in 1951.
He appeared destined for a successful NBA career, but was arrested in 1951
for taking money to fix the outcomes of games.
Investigators found that between 1947 and 1950, 86 college games had been
fixed and 32 players, including White and two teammates, were implicated.
The scandal was centered in New York, where Madison Square Garden had
college doubleheaders twice a week.
White served about eight months in jail and was barred from the NBA.
He played in basketball’s minor leagues for a while, and went on to work
for a liquor distributor in northern New Jersey and mentored youngsters in
Newark and in his hometown of Englewood.
His association with the point-shaving scandal "was the bane of his
existence," Ellen White said Friday. "It gnawed at him for all of his life,
and that’s why he tried so hard to work with so many young men."
White felt the ballplayers shouldered too much of the blame for the
scandals.
"They’re still blaming the ballplayers entirely," he told The New York
Times in 1998. "Not that the ballplayers aren’t responsible for their
actions, because they are. I’m not saying I didn’t do something wrong
because I know I did something wrong.
"But there are a lot things that cause these scandals, not just the
ballplayers. And if they don’t look out, they’re going to have another
scandal."
Copyright (c) 2011 The Associated Press
