| Walter East | |
|---|---|
| Sport(s) | Basketball |
| Current position | |
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | Akron |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1909 | Akron |
Walter East was the Akron Zips men's basketball head coach in 1909. In twelve games, he guided the team to a 5-7 record.
He is best known for fixing a championship football series in 1906 between the Canton Bulldogs and the Massillon Tigers of the "Ohio League". The scandal began when an allegation was made by a Massillon newspaper charging the Bulldogs coach, Blondy Wallace, and East, a Tigers end, of conspiring to fix a two game series between the two clubs. The scandal called for Canton to win the first game and Massillon was to win the second, forcing a third game-with the biggest gate-to be played legitimately, with the championship at stake. Both Wallace and East denied the charges.
East then returned to Akron, Ohio accusing the Tiger's coach Sherburn Wightman, of masterminding the scandal. According to East, Wightman had first asked him to solicit two of his fellow players to throw the game, then had East find a backer who would pay Wightman $4,000. However Wightman backed out of the deal at the last minute. He later went on to add that no member of the Bulldogs or their backers, as far as he knew, were connected with the deal. He finally stated that the only reason that Tigers manager E.J. Stewart went public on scandal was to ruin the attendance for a future Canton game against the Latrobe Athletic Association.
In Akron, East was seen as being the hapless victim of a crooked team. He was retained as manager of the Akron baseball team, until the team began losing. It should also be noted that East, boasted of fixing a college football game, as well as a baseball game in 1905.
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