Wednesday, March 5, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The betting in the 1994 games with Washington and Washington State was so heavy and unusual that most Las Vegas bookies stopped taking bets. The Nevada Gaming and Control and the Pac-10 Conference each investigated, and so did the FBI.
The investigation surfaced again Tuesday when ESPN reported federal officials concluded their probe into possible point-shaving in the games and have prepared search warrants.
The ESPN report left unclear on whom the warrants might focus, but set off a series of denials from the schools and others that anyone knew anything was going on now.
Arizona State athletic director Kevin White said the university "has not been advised of any new developments since the initial allegations." The university will cooperate if requested, he added.
Officials with Washington and Washington State issued similar statements.
Arizona State coach Bill Frieder, an avid gambler who has described betting as a form of relaxation, declined comment Tuesday, but had insisted in 1994 that neither he nor his players were involved in any point-shaving.
At the time, he went so far as to pledge to stay away from Las Vegas during that season.
FBI spokesman Jack Callahan acknowledged there had been a preliminary probe, but said agency rules prohibit his saying whether it was continuing.
However, Ron Asher, the Nevada Gaming and Control Board's chief of enforcement in 1994, said Tuesday that "there's no cloud hanging over ASU as far as we are concerned."
Asher said two of the bettors were from Phoenix and the other was from New Jersey. They bet big -- $250,000 -- simply because "we had a hunch, a tip that this was the time," Asher said they told him in 1994.
A Las Vegas newspaper quoted sources as saying the Nevada board's investigation extended to three previous games that season in which Arizona State had been favored but lost.
Arizona State officials said the last they had heard about the case was in 1994, when rumors circulated about the unusual betting. The Pac-10 Conference released a statement on March 7, 1994, saying the Nevada board told conference officials no Arizona State players or officials were under investigation.
"A representative of the board indicated it had no reason to believe there was any involvement of any ASU player or representative," the Pac-10 statement read. "Its focus will be on the bettors and the pattern and amounts of their wagers."
The initial investigation centered on a March 3, 1994, game in which Arizona State hosted Washington State. The Devils were favored by three points, but lost by nine.
Two days later, Arizona State was an 11-point favorite against Washington, but the spread dropped as low as four points. Arizona State came back from an early deficit to win 73-55.
Washington State spokesman Rod Commons said Tuesday that athletic department officials were not previously aware of the allegations. He declined further comment.
Jim Daves, a spokesman for the Washington sports department, said Tuesday night that the school had not been notified of new developments in the investigation.
Roxy Roxborough, a spokesman for the Nevada board, said the board was aware at the time "that the people who were betting were not Vegas regulars."
"It's unusual that people would bet a lot of money and that we wouldn't recognize them," Roxborough said Tuesday. "The board decided they wanted to withhold payments if Washington covered the point spread so they could interview the people who bet."
Arizona State missed its first 14 shots in the game, but recovered to win by more than the spread.
Jimmy Kolyszko, a forward on the '94 Arizona State team, said he has not been questioned about the games.
"I didn't know anything then and I don't know anything now," he said.
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