HPD: No criminal probe into UH point shaving allegations

HONOLULU — An anonymous letter sent to the University of Hawai‘i admissions office earlier this month claimed that members of the Warrior football team were involved in a point shaving scheme, UH President MRC Greenwood announced on Tuesday.

Point shaving happens when a person or team tries to prevent the score of a game from meeting the published point spread. A point spread is a method used by gamblers to bet on a game. Gamblers can make extra money by betting against the spread if they know the favored team is point shaving.

In a statement from Greenwood, the president said the school received a letter on Nov. 3 with the allegations against un-named members of the football team.

“Recognizing the seriousness of these allegations, UH leadership acted promptly and responsibly by immediately alerting the Honolulu Police Department and providing the letter to them,” Greenwood said.

Greenwood said that UH has also reported the allegations to the NCAA.

“UH has alerted the NCAA about the anonymous letter and its contents and, in discussions with them, has been informed it is ‘doing exactly what you need to be doing’ in this situation,” Greenwood said.

UH officials won’t comment further on the matter due to the ongoing investigation, Greenwood said.

The Honolulu Police Department released a statement Tuesday afternoon.

“The Honolulu Police Department became aware of the allegation in early November when UH officials gave a copy of an anonymous letter to the HPD,” the release states. “At this time there is not enough information to open a criminal investigation.”

The Warriors were in second place in the Western Athletic Conference and had a record of 5-3 when the letter was received. Since then, they have lost three straight games and are in danger of not qualifying for a bowl game after a 10-win season last year.

The Warriors are 3-7-1 against the spread and haven’t beaten it since Oct. 1 against Louisiana State.