In previously sealed correspondence, NCAA staffers appeared more concerned about the identity of a tipster who presumably alerted a Times reporter to when and where Neuheisel first would be interviewed by investigators about the pool. Condotta was waiting outside when the shaken football coach emerged from the interview at a Seattle hotel.

"The 'source' was in touch with the Times, which also inexplicably knew when we were to interview Neuheisel," Saum wrote in an interoffice message. "I suspect that latter may have been a leak at the university."

In an unsealed deposition, Saum described how the Neuheisel tipster in 2002 e-mailed Denny Poppe, the organization's director of football, with information about the pool. This message was passed along to Saum, who, after consulting with David Price, NCAA vice president of enforcement and a former Pac-10 official, did nothing.

"I didn't see how there was any way that this really could be truthful," Saum testified. "There's just no way that Coach Neuheisel would participate in something like this. So we decided for that reason to put it on hold and monitor it."

Asked by Sulkin why he believed the tipster's claims about Neuheisel the second time, and not the first, the NCAA official offered the following:

"Sometimes it's real easy because you get documentation. Other times you have to get a feel and a hunch in this business. And when this informant took the time to respond to me on a number of occasions and, it appeared to me, would be willing to work at gathering more information, even if it was just to see if Rick Neuheisel had participated a second year, and they weren't, in my opinion, very hostile e-mails -- I get plenty of those -- it started developing some credibility. That doesn't mean I believed it occurred."

The NCAA asked to meet with Neuheisel without offering the real reason for the request, and hit him with an ambush interview at the Seattle hotel, as it did with at least one pool member at the pool member's office. After originally denying involvement, Neuheisel admitted he had wagered with friends.

Once the coach's misstep was made public, the tipster e-mailed Saum as if seeking validation for his actions.

"Saw the paper today. See, I told you I wasn't making it up. At least Rick had the guts to tell you the truth when confronted. Part of me feels bad for coming forward, but at the same time Rick did this to himself. When will guys in his position learn that they're not invincible?

"Sad thing is that no matter what happens with him at UW, he will land on his feet somewhere. After all the infractions he committed at Colorado and some of the things he has done at the UW he will still have a job coaching somewhere and getting paid loads of money to do it. I feel it says a lot about our society."

Wagering was widespread
The tipster's actions sent a shudder throughout the Pacific-10 Conference. Once Neuheisel's wagering was exposed, the NCAA learned the UW football coaching staff had conducted a "$3 office pool" on NCAA Tournament games for several years. Other Pac-10 schools contacted the NCAA, voicing concerns that they were now employing former Huskies assistants who had taken part in this small-stakes gambling.

Incredibly, the NCAA determined that Dana Richardson, the UW's compliance director, wagered in a basketball office pool, as did gymnastics coach Bob Levesque and tennis coach Matt Anger, among several other Athletic Department employees.

It was learned that Keith Gilbertson also wagered in an office pool, a chief concern because the Huskies assistant coach was now Neuheisel's replacement.

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"I responded that if Gilbertson had bet in one $3 pool, we probably would impose an admonishment or reprimand," Price wrote in an in-house e-mail. "If he bet in the pool for three consecutive years, he might have to sit out a game or two."

Gilbertson avoided suspension, but couldn't hang onto his job after the Huskies went 1-10 in 2004, the worst season in school history. Gilbertson was forced out 17 months after Neuheisel, who now is quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.

Saum didn't maintain his place in NCAA gambling enforcement, either. He was reassigned within the organization after the Neuheisel case was closed. Midtrial disclosure that Saum once owned International Gaming Technology stock was not exactly a career-enhancer, though it was no secret at the time to his employer.

The mystery tipster no doubt was satisfied with Neuheisel's job displacement, but not so much with Saum's.

In a parting e-mail to Saum, "Peter Wright" informed the NCAA investigator of the following:

"Love to work for you one day."