A major corruption scandal has rocked the world of college basketball, with US prosecutors charging 26 individuals in an alleged scheme designed to enrich sports gamblers. The scheme is said to have involved 39 players from 17 NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams attempting to fix or fixing 29 US games, as well as two Chinese Basketball Association games.
According to US Attorney David Metcalf, this was a “massive scheme” that “enveloped the world of college basketball.” The charges come on the heels of a separate case involving sprawling illegal betting schemes linked to NBA personalities and the New York mafia.
The indictment alleges that from September 2022 to February 2025, the individuals influenced or fixed NCAA games as well as Chinese Basketball Association men’s basketball games. Prosecutors accused gamblers of placing bets on games in which players purposefully underperformed, with fixers then betting against the players’ teams to reap large payouts. Bribes could range between $10,000 and $30,000 per game, Metcalf said.
“In basketball, one player can substantially influence a game in ways that in other sports you cannot, but it’s not a guarantee,” Metcalf explained. “But, by and large, the scheme was very successful.”
The teams allegedly impacted include Abilene Christian, Alabama State, Butler, DePaul, Duquesne, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Fordham, Georgetown, Kennesaw State, Kent State, La Salle, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Ohio University, St. Louis University, St John’s, SUNY Buffalo, Tulane and Western Michigan University.
Some of the schools named in the indictment stated that their inclusion was due to allegations made against teams they had played. Tulane University, for instance, said it would cooperate with authorities “where appropriate” after a former student athlete was charged.
The scheme is said to have begun when former Chicago Bulls player Antonio Blakeney allegedly collaborated with two professional sports bettors, Shane Hennen and Marve Fairley, to fix Chinese Basketball Association games before the betting moved to the US.
“They picked these men because they were well connected in the world of college basketball,” Metcalf said. “They knew the players, many of them were players themselves, they were alumni, they were trainers, they were recruiters, they were networkers, they were people of influence, and because of that influence, they added gravitas and legitimacy to the scheme.”
The indictment comes two months after the FBI announced they were investigating two alleged schemes into illegal sports betting and allegedly rigged, mafia-linked poker games. Miami Heat player Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups were among those named in the earlier case, both of whom deny the allegations.