A 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) center, he played college basketball for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Kentucky Wildcats from 1949 to 1951.

Although Spivey was not convicted when the case went to trial in 1953, he was prevented from competing in the National Basketball Association (NBA) afterward.

William Edwin Spivey[1] was born in Lakeland, Florida, and had moved to Columbus, Georgia, by 1944, at which time he was 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m).

[2] The University of Kentucky first became aware of Spivey when a Georgia newspaper executive told Fred Wachs, whom writer Earl Cox said "pretty much ran Lexington", about him.

[2] In the 1949–50 season, the Wildcats lost several of the leading players from their championship-winning teams to graduation, including Ralph Beard and Groza.

[12] Spivey tied another of Groza's point-scoring records on March 5 with a 37-point performance in a Southeastern Conference (SEC) men's basketball tournament game.

[8] Kentucky did gain a berth to the National Invitation Tournament, but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by City College of New York (CCNY), 89–50.

[17] Kentucky played a much-anticipated game versus Kansas on December 16, 1950, with Spivey matched up against Jayhawks center Clyde Lovellette.

According to Manhattan District Attorney Frank Hogan, 32 players were involved in point shaving or match fixing, and 86 games were affected.

[27] That figure included three ex-Kentucky players: Dale Barnstable, Beard, and Groza, who engaged in point shaving during a 1949 National Invitation Tournament game.

Having been sidelined in the early part of the 1951–52 season after knee surgery, Spivey gave up his eligibility to play for the Wildcats on December 24, 1951.

[28] Spivey intended to return to the Wildcats once the situation was resolved, which Kentucky's athletic association expected before reinstatement.

In its statement, Kentucky's athletic board said evidence pointed to him fixing games during the 1950 Sugar Bowl basketball tournament.

[30] Gambler Jack West was charged with bribing two Wildcats players, Spivey and Walter Hirsch, to engage in point shaving during one of the tournament's games, and eventually pleaded guilty.

[27] In his grand jury testimony, Spivey denied receiving $1,000 ($12,664 in 2023) to shave points in games from December 1950 to January 1951, or talking about doing so with gamblers.

[33] In April, the grand jury indicted him on charges of perjury for lying under oath during his testimony,[31] claiming he had done so on seven occasions.

[34] Hirsch testified that Spivey asked to be included as a point shaver, and was upset that the payment for his role in shaving during the 1950 Sugar Bowl tournament was less than he anticipated.

[35] Spivey again denied taking part in the scandal, stating that he had turned down a different gambler on two occasions.

[32][41] Afterward, he claimed that his rights under the Sherman Antitrust Act had been violated and sued the league in federal court, dropping his initial case.

Hall said that "most people feel [Spivey] would have been one of the top five centers of all-time had he had the chance to mature in the NBA.

[37] In October 1952, Spivey played in two games for the American Basketball League's Elmira Colonels, scoring 21 and 32 points in the contests.

The first two of those EBL seasons were spent with the Wilkes-Barre Barons, and Spivey led the team to consecutive league championships.

On April 20, 1958, he scored 62 points in the title-clinching game against the Easton Madisons, setting an EPBL playoff record.

[44] Along with his play in the EPBL, Spivey reached an agreement to join the Ansonia Norwoods of the semi-professional Connecticut Basketball Association (CBA) in 1958.

"[48] By the end of his career, Spivey's physical condition had declined; Lou Tsioropoulos, who had played with him at Kentucky, said, "He was just completely disabled.

[27] Spivey ran in the primary election for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1983 as a Democrat, but came in last in the seven-person race.

[50] Spivey made his final public appearance in 1991, at a reunion of the 1950–51 Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball team in Lexington.

"[52] In a post-accident bone grafting operation, a piece of equipment became lodged in Spivey's lower back; according to Cashton, he won a small amount from the hospital in a lawsuit.