In recent years the NCAA has recognized the problem of gambling among athletes and has stepped up its educational and awareness efforts, using its media muscle to bring much-needed attention to the gambling epidemic. In 2003, the NCAA released a wide-ranging gambling study that pointed out just how serious the gambling issue is on college campuses and among student-athletes. In 2004, the NCAA created a Sports Wagering Task Force to study issues and develop actions to combat the growing problem.

Athletes are particularly vulnerable when it comes to gambling. Some professional athletes have gambled away enormous sums. Golfer John Daly estimates he blew at least $50 million gambling, mostly playing slot machines and blackjack. Daly and basketball great Charles Barkley have been forthcoming about their gambling problems. They deserve credit for sharing their experiences for the benefit of others.

A reporter asked Michael Jordan’s father, "Does your son have a gambling problem?" He replied, "(Michael) doesn’t have a gambling problem....What he does have is a competition problem. He was born with that. And if he didn’t have a competition problem, you guys wouldn’t be writing about him."

Competitive athletes, even after losses, tend to be confident they’ll win the next time. In sports, and in life, that confidence can be a great trait. It keeps athletes from dwelling on defeat and motivates them to learn more about what it takes to win. In gambling, however, such confidence is a formula for disaster, because you cannot win over the long haul. Confidence leads to more losses.

It’s not just student-athletes who are affected. Many studies have shown that compulsive gamblers (those who cannot stop gambling despite destructive consequences to their finances and lives) constitute about 5 percent of the U.S. population, and that about 90 percent of compulsive gamblers place their first bet before age 14. (Gambling is one subject in which college freshman arrive well prepared.) The college admissions process selects those who fit the compulsive profile. "They are, almost without exception, young, educated, and competitive." (Chad Millman, "The Odds, Public Affairs," 2001)

As college gamblers lose more and more (and virtually everybody engaged in third-party gambling loses), they keep in action by borrowing from other students; maxing out their credit cards; lying to their parents; and even by credit-card fraud, theft and drug dealing. Some support their gambling habit by becoming bookies; athletes who gamble may sell information to gamblers or agree to shave points.

Unfortunately, most students (including athletes) do not realize that gambling can turn from occasional recreation to continual devastation. It does not come with a surgeon general’s warning. In fact, our overall social environment makes gambling mainstream. Most state governments are in the gambling business, through lotteries and licensing racetracks, casinos and card clubs. The media shows winning lottery numbers on the nightly news and glamorizes big winners. Sports sections publish betting lines and carry ads offering "guaranteed" picks. Las Vegas promotes itself as a mecca for family entertainment. Atlantic City provides "free" bus transportation from New York, Philadelphia and other cities.

Given the political and economic power of the gambling industry, the gambling epidemic is likely to be with us for many years. Certainly college athletics administrators are not in a position to eliminate it. But athletics departments can help their students by doing what they do best — educating them about NCAA rules and about the nature of gambling and providing them with the tools to make sound decisions.

Here are some steps athletics departments can take to educate student-athletes, athletics administrators, coaches and the campus as a whole about gambling and its potential dangers:

Provide gambling education for athletics department staff and coaches. Effective gambling education requires that athletics leaders not only understand the NCAA rules and school policies regarding gambling, but also to set the right example.

Create awareness that gambling is a serious issue. While it’s important to educate student-athletes about NCAA rules, it’s also critical to make sure they understand gambling in a larger social context — and that there is confidential help available to those who seek assistance.

Recognize the benefits of extending gambling education beyond the athletics department. Work with campus leaders, including residential life, fraternities, and campus police, to address the gambling as a campus-wide issue. Use methods such as distributing literature, the college Web site, freshman orientation, residents’ life programs and health-education courses.

Be sensitive to the possibility that a student (or faculty or staff member) may be a compulsive gambler, or may be at risk for becoming one. Disseminate the list of danger signs compiled by the American Psychiatric Association.

Make counseling available to students, faculty and staff with gambling problems.