On The MAC: Say It Ain’t So, Sammy…

If there’s one player in MAC history who shaved points that we shouldn’t be surprised about, it’s former Toledo Rocket Sammy Villegas. The guy became less and less useful on the hardwood with each passing year he stayed in school. By his final season, Villegas, who was the MAC’s Frosh of the Year in 2003-04 and seemingly on his way to mid-major stardom, was a bricklaying reserve for the Rockets.

During the 2005-06 season in which he is accused of shaving points, Villegas averaged 6 points per game on horrendous 35% shooting from the field and 64% from the stripe. Numbers that were way down from the 13.7 PPG on 45% and 75% shooting from the floor and free throw line during his freshman year. Even more telling is the cliff-dive his three-pointing shooting took, falling from 40% his freshman year to 32% his final season.

Season Averages
SEASON MIN PTS FG% FT% 3P%
2003-2004 29.8 13.7 0.445 0.732 0.406
2004-2005 24.1 9.3 0.365 0.744 0.324
2005-2006 19.3 6 0.354 0.655 0.32

Sometimes guys that can knock down the J, will go through periods where they struggle with their stroke. Usually when this happens, they’ll able to rediscover their touch by correcting a technical flaw or regaining confidence in their J. Not so with Sammy Villegas, whose touch disappeared after his sophomore season, never to be found again while he was at Toledo. Now comes the accusation that he was shaving points during those seasons when his jumper was AWOL. Case closed?

Perhaps. Since former Toledo assistant coach James Stafford says “Villegas He still came into the gym and practised his shot. He just couldn’t make shots.”, I’m going to cut Sammy some slack until there is a plea or trial.

But still. Coming on the heels of a major FBI investigation into Toledo’s football squad shaving points, the Villegas thing is just more evidence that the Toledo athletics program is a major fucking embarrassment. The MAC should strip both Toledo basketball and football of scholarships for a lack of institutional control and ban each team from post-season play for at least one year.

Toledo ain’t Las Vegas or Reno. There’s no excuse for this kind of shit to be going at a MAC school.