A major college basketball betting scandal came to light Thursday after federal prosecutors indicted at least 20 people, including 15 current and former players, on gambling charges.
Key Takeaways
- College basketball’s latest gambling scandal includes 39 players from 17 schools.
- Fixers offered bribes to players for betting purposes.
- Fifteen people charged in the indictment are current or former college basketball players.
The federal indictment, filed in a Philadelphia court, claims 39 players from 17 schools, along with five “fixers,” were part of a point-shaving scheme for betting purposes, ESPN reports. Players involved were offered between $10,000 to $30,000 in bribes to manipulate games so bettors could profit.
Federal prosecutors claim that the defendants “defrauded” sportsbooks and sports bettors who were unaware of the performance manipulation scheme, which began in 2022 in the Chinese Basketball Association. The group of fixers branched out into college basketball until February 2025.
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NCAA involvement
The indictment includes games involving Alabama State, Western Michigan University, Butler, St. John's, Tulane, East Carolina, McNeese State, Nicholls State, St. Louis University, Duquesne, La Salle, Fordham, SUNY Buffalo, Kent State, Ohio University, Georgetown, and DePaul, CBS News reports.
Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi, and Camian Shell, who have all been charged in this case, are currently still playing college basketball. Here's a full list of the players indicted in the betting scandal.
Cedquavious Hunter and Dyquavian Short, two former New Orleans basketball players named in the indictment, according to ESPN, were recently sanctioned.
Two of the fixers, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, are also indicted in the FBI’s NBA gambling scandal that surfaced in October and involves Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. The other non-players indicted include a former coach and a former player.
Fight for integrity
NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a Thursday statement following the indictment release that the governing body has investigated roughly 40 players from 20 different schools. Some investigations are currently ongoing, he added.
“Protecting competition integrity is of the utmost importance for the NCAA. We are thankful for law enforcement agencies working to detect and combat integrity issues and match manipulation in college sports,” Baker said on Thursday.
“The pattern of college basketball game integrity conduct revealed by law enforcement today is not entirely new information to the NCAA,” Baker said. “Through helpful collaboration and with industry regulators, we have finished or have open investigations into almost all of the teams in today's indictment.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
