Federal prosecutors charged 26 people accused of involvement in a point-shaving scheme that bribed players to rig games today.
According to the U.S. Attorney David Metcalf, the scheme involved 39 players and 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams including Atlantic 10 Fordham University, La Salle University and Saint Louis University.
“In the indictment and related files we unsealed today, we allege an extensive international criminal conspiracy of NCAA players, alumni and professional betters who fixed games across the country and poisoned the American spirit of competition for monetary gain,” Metcalf said in a press conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The violations include one count of bribery in sporting contests, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, three counts of wire fraud and two counts of aiding and abetting.
Those involved in the scheme are accused of bribing players on teams favored to lose, paying them to underperform more than expected in order for bettors to profit further.
“For example, if a team was favored to lose by four points, the player would receive a bribe to underperform so that his team would lose by more than that,” Metcalf said.
Allegations of bribery go as far back as September 2022 and up to February 2025, with bribes ranging between $10,000 and $30,000 per game, Metcalf said.
However, some were notably higher, including $458,000 for NC A&T to lose against Towson; $424,000 on Kent State to cover a first-half spread vs. Buffalo; $275,000 for Southern Miss to not cover a first-half spread against South Alabama; $256,000 for Robert Morris to flop in the first half of a game against Northern Kentucky.
“This was a massive scheme that enveloped the world of college basketball," Metcalf said, adding, "this was a significant and rampant corruption of college athletics.”
The scheme originally focussed on the Chinese Basketball Association. One defendant, Shane Hennen, also charged in a federal indictment in the Eastern District of New York centered on gambling schemes in the NBA, texted a co-conspirator a few weeks after a fixed CBA game, "Nothing guaranteed in this world but death, taxes and Chinese basketball," the indictment stated.
According to the prosecutors, the group began targeting college basketball ahead of the 2023-24 season.
NCAA President Charlie Baker announced in a press release that while some of the investigations are ongoing, 11 student-athletes from seven schools have already permanently lost their NCAA eligibility.
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“Additionally, 13 student-athletes from eight schools (including some of those identified above) were found to have failed to cooperate in the sports betting integrity investigation by providing false or misleading information, failing to provide relevant documentation and/or refusing to be interviewed by the enforcement staff. None of them are competing today,” Baker said.
The schools accused of involvement include: Abilene Christian, Alabama State, Buffalo, Coppin State, DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Kennesaw State, New Orleans, Nicholls, North Carolina A&T, Northwestern State, Robert Morris, Southern Miss and Tulane.
In one instance according to the indictment, on or about Feb. 3, 2024, in an Atlantic 10 basketball game between Fordham and Duquesne, then Fordham player Elijah Gray and his teammate, unnamed, attempted to underperform and influence the game as they had agreed.
Both players scored fewer points than their season average, Gray only scoring three points. After the game, defendant Jalen Smith and Gray communicated through texts concerning the fixing of the game.
“Gray told defendant Smith, ‘I tried,’” and noted that the Duquesne players were ‘not hoopin,’ or played poorly, making it harder for Duquesne to cover the spread,” the indictment stated.
The scheme is said to have involved millions of dollars illegally wagered on dozens of mid-major games that past two seasons.
CBS News cross-referenced the indictment's detailed allegations, finding the 29 games that the FBI believes were tampered with in men's D-I college basketball:
Feb. 17, 2024: Nicholls-McNeese State
Feb. 18, 2024: Tulane-East Carolina
Feb. 19, 2024: Northwestern State-Texas A&M Corpus-Christi
Feb. 20, 2024: Saint Louis-Duquesne
Feb. 21, 2024: La Salle-St. Bonaventure
Feb. 23, 2024: Fordham-Duquesne
Feb. 24, 2024: DePaul-Georgetown
Feb. 24, 2024: Buffalo-Western Michigan
Feb. 27, 2024: Buffalo-Kent State
Feb. 28, 2024: Robert Morris-Northern Kentucky
Feb. 28, 2024: Southern Miss-South Alabama
March 1, 2024: Southern Miss-Louisiana
March 1, 2024: Kennesaw State-Queens
March 2, 2024: Tulane-FAU
March 2, 2024: DePaul-Butler
March 4, 2024: Coppin State-South Carolina State
March 5, 2024: Buffalo-Ohio
March 5, 2024: DePaul-St. John's
March 5, 2024: Robert Morris-Purdue Fort Wayne
March 11, 2024: New Orleans-Lamar
March 19, 2024: Abilene Christian-Texas A&M Corpus-Christi
March 20, 2024: Abilene Christian-Tarleton State
March 29, 2024: North Carolina A&T-Towson
Nov. 21, 2024: Eastern Michigan-Oakland
Dec. 5, 2024: Alabama State-Southern Miss
Dec. 21, 2024: Eastern Michigan-Wright State
Dec. 28, 2024: New Orleans-McNeese
Dec. 30, 2024: New Orleans-Vanderbilt
Jan. 11, 2025: New Orleans-Southeastern Louisiana
This is just the latest in a string of sports betting scandals. In the past two years, cases of events allegedly being manipulated have surfaced in the NBA, Major League Baseball and UFC.
Today, Baker sent a letter to state gambling regulators asking for laws to be adjusted to further protect players and the integrity of the games, calling for the elimination of prop betting.
Contact sports editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu
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