When I was at USC in the early '80s we had a long time commitment from a high scoring local phenom named Dwayne Polee. Then in the final days there started to be whispers he might be stolen away by UNLV. Everyone in those days knew that stolen meant literally stolen. Tarkanian and UNLV were known as the bad boy Rebels, and always in trouble with the NCAA.
I was a sportswriter for the Daily Trojan, and rather bold. I called UNLV and asked to speak to Tarkanian. They didn't do that but they did stick an assistant coach on the phone with me. Naturally he laughed at any suggestion of payoffs, and thought it was quite amusing that a student sportswriter was on the phone with that type of accusation.
Polee had an unremarkable career with the Rebels. I think he ended up transferring to Pepperdine or somewhere.
Fast forward more than 15 years. I was living in Las Vegas and had been in the sports betting scene for a long time, as bettor and sportsbook supervisor, etc. One of my friends was Billy Hungrecker, a former prep legend from the northeast who ended up playing briefly at UNLV and was the last cut by the Clippers one year during the '80s. Billy and I had been friends for a decade, while he worked at the Imperial Palace sportsbook. One day I brought up the Polee situation at USC and Billy immediately perked up: "Wait a minute! I remember that guy. I heard that story. Yeah, we did buy him. Everyone in the program knew it. Hey, there's an old time booster who comes in here once in a while. Next time he shows up I'll introduce you. I'm sure he'll give you the details."
Keep in mind this was after the Tarkanian era had ended, and while UNLV was increasingly boring while trying to clean up its act. The old time boosters were kept away from the program, at least for a while.
Fast forward a couple of months and Billy goes nuts one night when both of us are in the sportsbook. He sees the old booster and introduces me. I ask about Dwayne Polee, way back in spring 1981. It was like a scene out of a movie, this old time booster with a huge hat and huge belly and huge cigar. "Oh sure, I remember that kid. Cost us 25. Plus a car. Oh...and a scholarship for his sister. Tried hard but wasn't worth a damn. The kid, I'm talking about. I don't know about the sister."
Billy again went nuts, laughing and pointing. "See, I told ya. I told ya he'd know."
It happened so quickly and almost in code. I laughed and asked the booster to repeat it slowly.
The 25 means $25,000. That was the principal payoff to lure Polee from USC, along with the car and scholarship to UNLV for his sister.
Of all my bizarre experiences in Las Vegas, that one earns plenty of reaction as I repeat to friends, especially ones from USC who remember that Polee situation.
If $25,000 was the going rate in 1981 I'm extremely skeptical at some of the numbers being thrown around lately, unless UNLV was simply ahead of its time, which is not impossible given the simultaneous extravagance of SMU boosters in football, leading to the death penalty for that program.
Unfortunately the story does have a sad aspect. Billy Hungrecker died suddenly of a heart attack several few years ago, while still in his 50s. I moved away from Las Vegas in late 2008 and didn't see Billy again after that.
There is also a strange twist because Dwayne Polee eventually ended up at USC as director of basketball operations for a few years. I told this story on the USC basketball forums at the time and there was quite a bit of reaction in both directions, some who loved it and others who wanted it to go away, because Polee was a respected member of the USC family at the time.
Polee's son Dwayne Jr. was a prominent college player earlier this decade but I don't think he made it in the NBA.
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