Federal prosecutors have indicted 20 people in a widespread point-shaving scheme involving college basketball games.
The scheme allegedly began in 2022 and involved players accepting bribes to underperform in games.
Former Chicago Bulls player Antonio Blakeney was charged separately for recruiting NCAA players into the conspiracy.
The operation involved 39 players on more than 17 Division I teams, with millions wagered on at least 29 games.
On the heels of an NBA gambling scandal that rocked the sports world in October, federal prosecutors have secured indictments against 20 people accused of fixing college basketball games, as well as professional games in China, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
According to records unsealed Thursday, Jan. 15, sports gamblers worked with players who agreed to underperform in games from 2022 to 2025 in a widespread point-shaving scheme.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. The fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years. The bribery charges have a maximum sentence of five years. According to the indictment, some of the bets placed at Rivers Casino in Philadelphia were for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Prosecutors say the alleged sports gambling conspiracy began in September 2022 when several of the defendants first started to bribe players in the Chinese Basketball Association. One player named but not charged in the indictment is Antonio Blakeney, a former member of the Chicago Bulls, who later played for the Jiangsu Dragons in China.
Blakeney was the first player recruited, according to prosecutors, and after several successful outcomes in China, he went on to ‘recruit NCAA players who would accept bribe payments,’ court papers said.
Blakeney was charged separately in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an indictment dated Oct. 17, 2024, according to a copy obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
For his role in the scheme, prosecutors say Blakeney, 29, received a one-time cash payment of $200,000, which another defendant dropped into a storage unit Blakeney had in Florida. Blakeney later went on to recruit college players to shave points in NCAA games.
The operation eventually involved 39 players on more than 17 Division I teams from 2022-2025, with bettors wagering millions of dollars on at least 29 different games, according to the indictment. Payments to players ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
‘We allege an extensive international criminal conspiracy of NCAA players, alumni and professional bettors who fixed games across the country and poisoned the American spirit of competition for monetary gain,’ U.S. Attorney David Metcalf told reporters on Thursday.
Of the 20 people named in the indictment, 15 are active college or former college basketball players.
One of the players named, current Kennesaw State guard Simeon Cottle, played Wednesday night and scored 21 points in the Owls’ 89-86 win over FIU.
In addition to Cottle (currently averaging 20.2 points per game), other active college players in the indictment are Eastern Michigan’s Carlos Hart (13.1 PPG), Delaware State’s Camian Shell (8.0 PPG) and Texas Southern’s Oumar Koureissi (4.9 PPG).
NCAA responds to gambling allegations
NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the NCAA continues to work with law enforcement to preserve the legitimacy of college sports competition.
‘The Association has and will continue to aggressively pursue sports betting violations in college athletics using a layered integrity monitoring program that covers over 22,000 contests,’ Baker said, ‘but we still need the remaining states, regulators and gaming companies to eliminate threats to integrity – such as collegiate prop bets – to better protect athletes and leagues from integrity risks and predatory bettors.’
The indictment unsealed Thursday revealed a scheme similar to the one announced in October in which Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was one of 30 people indicted in a wide-ranging gambling probe allegedly involving members of New York’s organized crime families.
One of the gamblers charged Thursday was high-stakes sports bettor Shane Hennen, who had already been charged alongside Rozier and was also accused of participating in that scandal.
Who is Antonio Blakeney?
Antonio Blakeney, a 6-4 shooting guard, played his college ball at LSU (2015-17). After declaring for the 2017 NBA Draft, Blakeney went undrafted and signed with the Bulls. He played two seasons in Chicago and averaged 7.5 points and 1.8 rebounds over 76 career games. He joined the Jiangsu Dragons for the 2019-20 season, when he averaged 34.8 points and 8.0 rebounds and shot 50% from the field.
Who was named in latest gambling indictment?
The 20 people charged in the 70-page indictment unsealed on Jan. 15 are:
Jalen Smith
Marves Fairley
Shane Hennen
Roderick Walker
Alberto Laureano
Arlando Arnold
Simeon Cottle
Kevin Cross
Bradley Ezewiro
Shawn Fulcher
Carlos Hart
Markeese Hastings
Cedquavious Hunter
Oumar Koureissi
Da’Sean Nelson
Demond Robinson
Camian Shell
Dyquavion Short
Airion Simmons
Jalen Terry