Sport: Scandal of the Week

“Why condemn kids for one mistake in a lifetime?” said Adolph Rupp, Kentucky basketball coach, to Chicago’s Quarterback Club last week. “Let’s be more lenient toward them.” Four days later the year’s biggest basketball scandal exploded right in Coach Rupp’s own backyard. The boys who admitted taking bribes to shave points: Alex Groza and Ralph Beard, Kentucky’s 1947-49 All-America stars, and Dale Barnstable, 1949-50 captain. The place: Madison Square Garden’s 1949 National Invitation Tournament. The opponent: Loyola of Chicago, a ten-point underdog, which upset Rupp’s National Collegiate champions, 67-56. The admitted payoff: $500 apiece.