The federal indictment unsealed on Thursday alleges that college basketball players were influenced by bribes to intentionally underperform against spreads.
The college basketball world was hit with a shocking indictment on Thursday that was unsealed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that alleges a point-shaving scheme involving more than 39 players on 17 NCAA Division 1 teams. The result, according to the indictment, was dozens of games being fixed by a gambling ring over the last two seasons. Not only does it involve former players, but also four charged players who played for their current teams this last week who were alleged to have participated on former teams or previous seasons, with no allegations involving this current season.
The schools named in the indictment are as follows: Abilene Christian, Alabama State, Buffalo, Coppin State, DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Fordham, Kennesaw State, La Salle, New Orleans, Nicholls State, North Carolina A&T, Northwestern State, Robert Morris, Saint Louis, Southern Miss, and Tulane.
Authorities have named five defendants as the “fixers,” or recruiters who found players willing to participate and offered bribes ranging between $10k to $30k to “intentionally underperform.” The bettors would then place millions on the fixed matches to profit, according to prosecutors. The defendants are charged with bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit fraud. The “fixers” are charged with additional counts of wire fraud. The bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of five years, while the fraud charges carry a maximum 20-year sentence.
Here is the full story from Tulane Roundtable writer Maddy Hudak on the allegations involving the former Green Wave basketball player named and the story the indictment paints of involved alleged players.
The indictment names 16 players, two trainers, and “high-stakes sports gamblers.” Former LSU Tigers star and NBA player Antonio Blakeney was named, but not charged, as allegedly part of the group that recruited players and offered bribes. The scheme began around September of 2022 and began fixing Chinese Basketball Association games – the league in which Blakeney played at the time after playing for the Chicago Bulls. The group moved on to target college players before the 2023-24 season, specifically looking for players who didn’t receive that much in NIL, with the thought that the bribes would “meaningfully supplement or exceed legitimate NIL opportunities.”
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said in a news conference Thursday that when the scheme expanded to college basketball, it intentionally looked for fixers who were connected to the sport, such as the named trainers. NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the NCAA enforcement staff has initiated betting integrity investigations into approx. 40 players from 20 programs, including "almost all of the teams in today's indictment."