Everywhere he went, he had a book with him at all times., I became so focused, said Cobb. He would teach me about these attributes and I began to internalize them. fellow accused BC players Ernie Cobb and Michael Bowie (who were completely vindicated), law . like that until he got there. I feel like if I can change one life, like he changed mine, man, it makes everything Ive been through worthwhile.. He took advantage of an opportunity that surfaced when a pro team from Israel offered him a spot on their roster. Ernie Cobb, the star of the Boston College basketball team in the 1978-79 season, was found not guilty yesterday of charges that he joined a game- rigging conspiracy to benefit gamblers that season. He wanted to tell his side of the story. Everything Id worked so hard for was coming to fruition.. I saw Ernie score 28 points against the Celtics in one of the final pre-season games when he was with the Nets, said Alswanger, Cobbs former high school coach. After his junior campaign, where he converted 52% of his shots, an inordinate number for a small perimeter shooter, and averaged 22.8 points per game, he was recognized as one of the most lethal scorers in the country. Contribute to The Shadow League today and help us share our narratives. Its something that hes still waiting for, to this day. It wasnt until I actually saw him play that I realized how special he was as an offensive talent. I could see myself coming into my own one day and doing that. Im not angry at the school. But before he stepped foot on campus for his freshman year to chase a new set of goals, he was hesitant, apprehensive and somewhat scared. Ernie Cobb played professional basketball in Israel for 17 years, where he learned to speak fluent Hebrew. Detroit Mercys Antoine Davis Creeping Up On Pistol Pete Maravichs All-Time NCAA Scoring Mark, A Poor Mans Danny Ainge A Poor Mans Jeff Hornacek: Michael Cooper Torches JJ Redick, I Guard 1 Through 5 | Heats Bam Adebayo Believes He Is NBAs Best Defender And Has Been The Past Two Years. It was the first time he saw the game as something that could improve his life, something that could take him places. He was like a big brother to my own son. I could have sneezed and they would have sent me to the principals office.. It all seemed like a fairy tale, until he was indicted for allegedly fixing college basketball games for the mob. Boston College 84 Reuben Holmes, Alabama State 107 Bart Kofoed, Kearney State 130 Art Sabb, Bloomfield College 153 Keith Webster, Harvard 1988. If you missed Part I, you can read it here. He refused to take a plea deal in return for a reduced sentence. Its one of several seeming contradictions the gangster-turned-informant offers during the film, right along with this doozy early on: I didnt threaten him or nothin, Hill says in the film, I just said, Its hard to play basketball with a broken arm.. With having to work long hours, her children had a lot of free, unsupervised time on their hands, some of which was not utilized wisely. The Nets coaches were telling me, Coach, hes gonna be a great pro., I had a great camp with the Nets and was poised to make the team, said Cobb. Some 36 years later, there doesn't seem to be a lot of love lost between key characters Rick Kuhn, Ernie Cobb, and Jim Sweeney, the trio of Eagles allegedly paid to keep scores as close as they . NCAA. In the 1979 NBA Draft, Magic Johnson was the first overall pick of the Los Angeles Lakersafter leading Michigan State University to the National Championship over Larry Birds Indiana State team. That includes Rick Kuhn, the former minor league baseball player who started the scandal and who Sweeney says got him involved in it. At trial in 1981, the government's case consisted primarily of the testimony . All Kuhn had to do was ensure that the Eagles fell short of the point spread in the games that they bet on. My parents have suffered. Masters Degree in Education. College: Boston University (1979) NCAA Season Stats - Per Game. He yearned to shake himself free from being associated with the gangsters that would later be immortalized in the movie Goodfellas: Henry Hill, Jimmy Burke, Paul Vario and the Lucchese crime family apparatus that supported the biggest college sports point-shaving scandal since the 1950s. Draft: Utah Jazz, 6th round (1st pick, 109th overall), 1979 NBA Draft. Couldnt they see how grateful he was, that hed never cheat the thing that gave his life such meaning and purpose? And I dont think it ever stayed with me.. The film represented something of a white whale for executive producer and co-director Joe Lavine, who for years attempted and failed to get the project green-lighted before finally landing at ESPN. Loughery told me that I had the ability to play in the NBA. I told him, I think were gonna blow them out, we look really good. We never starved. Cobb and Sweeney admitted to accepting money, but both deny willingly participating while on the basketball court. My family has suffered. My girlfriend and I bought a new stereo, television and some furniture. At the close of the two-week trial, Alswanger was the last character witness who took the stand in Cobbs behalf. A wake will be held for Dr. Cobb-Stevens on Monday, July 16, from 4-7 p.m. at the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 475 Main . Studied Special education at Grand Canyon University. Im looking at him play against Clyde Frazier and right then and there, I thought it was a realistic dream for me to make it to the NBA. If you got your own apartment after high school, that was considered a success. Select the second team from the drop down menu. How much he was indebted to it? Near the Boston College campus, he had a flat tire. 14, left in first row), and Jim Sweeney (No. It really was over 10 years that Ive been trying to do this, so I dont know that I can just turn the page on it and go on to something else. Most people may conjure up nightmarish images while trying to imagine being incarcerated at such an early age, butErnie's experience wasquite the opposite. When he was implicated in the scandal, I was shocked.. On the stand during the trial, Rick Kuhns girlfriend, Barbara Reed, with whom he shared an apartment during his senior year at Boston College, testified that she overheard Kuhn and Sweeney discussing the Fordham game, saying that they had to keep the ball away from Cobb because he shot the ball all the time. Kuhn was later convicted and served ten years in prison for the crime. But she had to work very hard, over some long hours, which meant she couldnt monitor my every move. I knew that I could play basketball with anybody. The motley crew next ensnared Boston College's leading scorer, Ernie Cobb. Heading into his senior season in 1978-1979, as the team captain, Cobb was hoping that he could lead his team to the NCAA Tournament. Other times, they didnt deliver as promised, which caused some very dangerous and ill-tempered men to lose large sums of cash. he keeps to himself. Height: 6-3. Find Ernest Cobb's current house address. These people [in the mob] get glamorized or sensationalized, Sweeney said. standards like the rest of the students, most who came from wealthy and very strong academic backgrounds. Other notable players selected in that draft included Sidney Moncrief, Bill Laimbeer, Bill Cartwright, Mark Eaton and Jim Paxson. I felt valued, that I mattered and that people cared about me. When the story first broke, it said that Michael Bowie and I were the ones implicated, said Cobb. . I wanted my name cleared and it took a long time.. He told him that he had talent, but that wasnt enough. On Saturday morning, March 24, 1984, a tiny blurb in newspaper sports sections across the nation read: Ex-basketball star Ernie Cobb was acquitted Friday of taking part in a point-shaving scandal that rocked Boston College in 1978-1979, and tearfully asked for a fair shot to resurrect his chances at a pro career. He really set the tone in terms of being a strong, dynamic, willful player that wondrous talents like John Bagley, Michael Adams and Dana Barros, all of whom went on to play ball in the NBA after their careers at B.C., followed. But as it turned out, the trial was simply one chapter of many in his life, and not the defining one. Height: 5'11" (180 cm) Weight: 0 lbs (- kg) Position: PG. Rocco and Tony Perla were giving money to Rick Kuhn. Lavine said Kuhn was very open but declined to go on camera, so his side of the story is told instead mostly through court testimony. But for Bowie, it was too little, too late. My moment had arrived. The arresting officer for the second incident took an interest in the young kid, and saw more than just a young man escalating into juvenile delinquency. We have tools and resources that can help you use sports data. First Name. Hed averaged 21.3 points per game during the 1978-1979 season, leading the Eagles to a 21-8 record. Please give him a chance. But by his sophomore year, when he was inserted into the starting lineup, it was apparent that the 5-foot-11 scorer brought a dimension to the Boston College squad that it sorely needed when he averaged 17.4 points per game. In the 1998/99 season he lead the Girls to the top. But I was still worried. Man, I was really into bikes, Cobb said. Did Uncle Neely Forget Which Side He Plays For? There was no getting around that. At 11:05 a.m., U.S. District Judge Leonard Wexler completed his instructions to the jury in the Federal Court Building in Brooklyn as Ernie Cobb awaited his judgment. Cobb admitted to accepting $1,000 but wasn't prosecuted. The game had saved his life, delivered him from peril, from a path leading nowhere, from dysfunction and illiteracy, to an elite college education and a shot at the NBA and a better future. A chance meeting in prison. He was a remarkable man. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, shoots, school and more on Basketball-Reference.com . The City of M. The point-shaving allegations surfaced during an unrelated investigation into the 1978 theft of $5.8 million from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at New Yorks Kennedy Airport. He was 87. The thoughts continuously raced through Cobbs mind: how had he arrived here, he wondered, of all places, charged with allegedly conspiring to commit sports bribery while allegedly fixing college basketball games for the Mob? A social worker at the facility, who took notice of Ernies work ethic and burgeoning athletic potential, contacted Herm Alswanger, the varsity basketball coach at Stamford High School, where the youngster would soon enroll upon his release from Meriden. He was a murderer and a horrible human being. Hes a good person. The Globe, quoting an unnamed source in New York, said the three games in which point-shaving was alleged were a Feb.3 game against Fordham, a Feb. 6 game against St. Johns and a March 1 game in the ECAC Regional Playoffs against Connecticut. 11. Couldnt people see how much he loved the game? Stamford (108,056) Ernie Cobb (Boston College basketball), Gary Cobb (NFL, 11 years), Donna Lopiano (Raybestos Brakettes), Dick Mayer (1957 U.S. Open golf champion), Andy Robustelli (Pro Football . I didnt even know what goals were, said Cobb. And he also cultivated interest, in the area's black community, in terms of being engaged and intrigued bywhat was going on with Boston Colleges basketball program. Sweeney said he decided to cooperate with Lavine and co-director Cayman Grant because he believed they would treat the subject fairly. He was adamant, that he would take the stand in his own defense, despite his lawyers pleas not to do so. S leading scorer, Ernie Cobb played professional basketball in Israel for 17 years, where he learned speak. The testimony Rick Kuhn, the former minor League baseball player who started the scandal and who says... 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