A former Green Wave basketball forward allegedly accepted bribes to underperform and fix games based off the point spread, according to prosecutors.
The college basketball world is now dealing with a point-shaving scheme that involves more than 39 players on 17 NCAA Division 1 teams, according to David Purdum of ESPN. Allegedly, these players were involved in more than a dozen games over the last two seasons being fixed as part of a gambling ring. Unfortunately, the Tulane Green Wave were one of the schools named in the indictment on Thursday, as former forward Kevin Cross was one of the defendants named in the federal indictment that was unsealed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Five of the named defendants are alleged to be “fixers” who recruited participants in the scheme for bribes of $10k to $30k to purposefully underperform. The bettors would then place millions on the matches and profit off the fixed games, per prosecutors. The indictment naming cross names 16 other players, two trainers, and “high-stakes sports gamblers.” The allegations involving Cross also name trainer Roderick Winkler, former LSU and NBA player Antonio Blakeney, and sports gambler Marves Fairley. Blakeney is named but not charged, with documents saying he’s being “charged elsewhere,” he allegedly agreed to help recruit NCAA players.
Cross was approached in mid-February of 2024 by “fixers,” including Winkler, Blakeney, and Fairley, and was recruited via FaceTime communications where he was allegedly offered bribes by Winkler and Blakeney to “underperform and influence” Tulane’s Feb. 18, 2024 game at East Carolina. Specifically, he was told to “ensure that Tulane did not cover the spread.” If he succeeded, the fixers would pay him approximately $30k, to which Cross agreed, according to prosecutors.
The Pirates won the game 81-67 as approx. 2.5-point favorites. Cross scored six points, which was well under his season average – he scored 20 or more points in seven of their previous 10 contests. Shortly after the game, the fixers arranged for the $30k payment to be delivered to Cross in cash. The second game named in the indictment was the Mar. 2, 2024 game against the FAU Owls, who were 15-point favorites. However, this attempt was unsuccessful, as the Owls only won by six points.
The scheme allegedly began around September of 2022 and initiated with fixing Chinese Basketball Association Games, where Blakeney played at the time. They then expanded to targeting collegiate players ahead of the 2023-24 season – looking to exploit NIL and offer bribes that either supplemented or surpassed their NIL opportunities.
Following the indictment’s release, NCAA president Charlie Baker said via a statement that the NCAA enforcement staff is now conducting betting integrity investigations into approximately 40 players across 20 programs – including "almost all of the teams in today's indictment."
The Green Wave have yet to release an official statement, though university spokesman Mike Strecker provided one to local outlet Crescent City Sports. As it involves an athlete no longer with the program, it’s clear what penalties if any would be handed out to the university, especially if they had no awareness of the scheme.