The NCAA announced Friday that six former men’s basketball players manipulated game outcomes or shared betting information as part of an illegal sports betting scheme.
Key Takeaways
- Three players at New Orleans conspired to throw their games.
- Two Mississippi Valley players were offered payment to underperform in the first half of a game.
- An Arizona state player shared injury information with a known sports bettor and his girlfriend, who bet on his games.
The NCAA confirmed that former men’s basketball players at New Orleans, Mississippi Valley and Arizona State were involved.
Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short, Jamond Vincent, Donovan Sanders, Alvin Stredic, and Chatton “BJ” Freeman were all deemed permanently ineligible for competition for violating ethical conduct rules. None of the six are enrolled at their former schools.
Investigations revealed the incidents weren’t directly related to one another, although they all resulted in players manipulating in-game events and/or sharing privileged information.
Hunter and Sanders chose not to participate in their investigations. Short, Vincent, and Stredic did not respond to enforcement agents when the cases were processed. Freeman took part in negotiating a resolution and willingly agreed to his violations.
The Committee on Infractions does not directly investigate student-athletes, but it confirmed the findings from the cases.
Details of the investigations
Incidents at New Orleans - now known to have involved Hunter, Short, and Vincent - came to light in February. The university informed the NCAA it received a tip from a student-athlete that men’s basketball players were manipulating the outcomes of games and having a third party place bets.
The same student-athlete said Short told him near the end of a game not to score any more points. Text messages recovered from Vincent’s phone also revealed he told third parties to bet on New Orleans’ opponents since they were going to “throw the game.” Additional texts showed the trio received $5,000.
The NCAA contacted an integrity firm and Mississippi Valley, where Sanders and Stredic played, in February following a report about an NBA gambling ring that was allegedly linked to college basketball teams, including Mississippi Valley. A review of past transactions found that suspicious activity involving the school occurred Jan. 6.
One men’s basketball player during an interview with the enforcement staff shared he’d overheard Sanders say during a phone call in December 2024 that he planned on “throwing the game.” Sanders later revealed he and Stredic were offered to throw the Jan. 6 game by an anonymous person, who told them to underperform in the first half.
Both Sanders and Stredic were later charged with failing to cooperate with the investigation once it was determined they provided false or misleading statements and did not produce requested records.
Freeman, from Arizona State, was discovered to have violated the NCAA’s rules during an investigation into a case involving Mykell Robinson, then a basketball player at Fresno State. Messages on Robinson’s phone revealed Freeman shared details of his injury availability, which Robinson used to bet on Freeman at daily fantasy sports platforms.
Freeman also shared the same information with his girlfriend, who also placed wagers. He initially lied to investigators about sharing the information and owning a fantasy sports account, which he had registered to his name and email address.
Basketball gambling scandals piling up
The NCAA is still in the middle of other investigations into a gambling ring that targeted more small-conference schools. Regulators reported that suspicious activity was noticed in relation to first-half spreads. Three former Fresno State players were banned in September for betting violations.
The world of sports is also still reeling from an FBI investigation that led to the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and ex-assistant coach Damon Jones.
