Billy Packer

WFU71 said:

That's generally the way I remember the Gilmore situation.

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USC left because Paul Dietzell, then the AD, thought the school could make more of a splash, and more money, as an independent. He probably harbored some desire that they eventually wind up in the SEC, but the reason given was the desire to be independent. There was some speculation at the time that he also wanted relaxed admission standards for football and the ACC wouldn't agree. Frank McGuire, the basketball coach, opposed the move but Dietzell wanted USC to be a football school.

In his autobiography, Packer covered the point shaving scandal extensively. He wrote it sometime in the '80s and made a good point then that can you imagine sending a college player to New York for questioning without the presence of the Wake coach, athletic director, faculty member or president, or legal representative? He and Jack Jensen were grilled as he said for two days but didn't give in. Packer made the point that how could Jensen be involved when he was a walk-on who rarely played.

Good thing they hung tough under the pressure or both could've been in a world of hurt.

deacfreke2 said:

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Good thing they hung tough under the pressure or both could've been in a world of hurt.

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That seems to imply the possibility they may not have been telling the truth. I believe they did. I was on campus then and don't recall this interview being open info.
For those who don't like Packer, his 'confident' personality would certainly argue he'd never do such a thing. His soph season was perhaps his best season as Lenny emerged further. However, he was an excellent player for Wake and key contributor those three years of being ACC champs and FF team. During that period, Wake made the ACC finals five consecutive years.

raldeac said:

That seems to imply the possibility they may not have been telling the truth. I believe they did. I was on campus then and don't recall this interview being open info.
For those who don't like Packer, his 'confident' personality would certainly argue he'd never do such a thing. His soph season was perhaps his best season as Lenny emerged further. However, he was an excellent player for Wake and key contributor those three years of being ACC champs and FF team. During that period, Wake made the ACC finals five consecutive years.

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No, what I meant was they didn't give in to the pressure of being grilled by law enforcement and saying they did something they didn't actually do. I totally believe they had nothing to do with point shaving. There was plenty of proof they didn't but having Jensen involved in it made it a totally bogus claim as he couldn't influence a game in any way.