University Of Michigan Basketball Scandal Essay

The University of Michigan Basketball Scandal was a series of NCAA rule violations between the men’s basketball team at the University of Michigan and a team booster Ed Martin. Team booster, Ed Martin illegally provided players with cars and hundreds of thousands of dollars. The scandal involved many basketball players from the University of Michigan, including future NBA players at the time, Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock. The scandal reflected very poorly on Michigan and they had to face their punishment which had years of effects.

The whole investigation started on February 17, 1996, when Maurice Taylor was driving a Ford Explorer and rolled it in Detroit MI. He was driving, Willie Mitchell, Robert Traylor, Louis Bullock, Ron Oliver, and Mateen Cleaves. This already violated one of the University of Michigan's rules that you can’t transport a recruit more than 30

The athletic director, Tom Goss stated he was, “troubled by evidence in that report that our basketball program has not been held to the standards we believe all programs at the University of Michigan should meet.". In 1999, the FBI raided 11 homes in the Detroit area and discovered gambling records, more than $165,000 in cash and 10 guns. One of the homes they raided belonged to Ed Martin. This helped prove Ed Martin (above) paid several of the Michigan basketball players to launder money from an illegal gambling operation. In 2003, Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman announced self-sanctions on the men's basketball team. The school vacated Webber's entire sophomore season, and vacated its Final Four appearance in 1992, which was Webber's freshman season. The 1992 and 1993 Final Four banners were removed from their arena. Ever stat Webber recorded during this time was wiped. In the NCAA forced Michigan to disassociate itself from Traylor, Bullock and Taylor until 2012 and to disassociate itself from Webber until