A college basketball points shaving scheme involving more than 30 players among 17 NCAA teams resulted in many games from the two previous basketball seasons being fixed by a gambling ring.
Around 20 NCAA players were charged, including Robert Morris forward Markeese Hastings and two other Colonials players. Other players and coaches were also charged with playing in the 2023-2024 season and the 2024-2025 season, while the rest were still playing at the time the ring was discovered.
Players from Buffalo, Chicago, and Fort Wayne, Indiana, Towson, North Carolina A&T, and Kent State were recruited in the offseason and were bribed between $10,000 – $30,000 to underperform intentionally. The betters targeted players whose bribe payments would meaningfully supplement or exceed legitimate NIL opportunities.
Betters wagered at least $3.6 million on the first-half and full-game spreads of college games. The most money wagered was $458,000 on Towson to cover the first-half spread against North Carolina A&T on Feb.29, 2024, and $424,000 on Kent State to cover the first-half spread against Buffalo on Feb. 27, 2024; both of the bets hit.
“I’m surprised they got away with this many bets. It seems pretty obvious when they put this much money on such small colleges,” senior Peter Geitmann. “I would have thought the betting sites or casinos would have realized the scheme quicker.”
“It’s crazy you would think college players would make enough from NIL deals. I wonder what their punishment will be,” sophomore Eli Paul said.
Some members of the gambling ring were also charged with another gambling scheme centered around the NBA. They were charged with bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. They were also charged with additional counts of wire fraud. The bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. And the fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years.
“I think the sentence is well deserved. Hopefully, this will prevent further betting schemes from happening,” sophomore Bryce Carlson said.
This college basketball incident is the latest in a string of sports betting scandals. In the past few years, cases of gambling rings and rigged games have been discovered throughout many major sports, including the NBA, Major League Baseball, and UFC. Hopefully, with more cases being investigated and caught, it will lower the number of cases we may see in the future.
