PHILADELPHIA (AP) – An extensive investigation has revealed a betting scheme aimed at rigging NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games, involving 26 individuals, including over a dozen college basketball players. Federal prosecutors announced the findings of this intricate conspiracy on Thursday, stressing the gravity of the corruption in the sports industry.
The scheme primarily involved gamblers placing bets and recruiting players under the promise of significant financial payments in exchange for intentionally underperforming. The fixers would subsequently place bets against the teams affected, leading to substantial fraud against sportsbooks and fellow gamblers.
U.S. Attorney David Metcalf described the case as an "international criminal conspiracy" and emphasized the serious breach of sports integrity. The indictment suggests that many other unnamed players were involved in the scheme but not charged, indicating ongoing investigations. This case marks yet another scandal in the realm of sports betting, which has been on the rise following the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized sports betting.
The indictment follows prior federal actions targeting illegal gambling operations linked to professional basketball and highlights NCAA sanctions against at least ten players involved in betting, alongside two Major League Baseball players facing charges for accepting bribes.
The charges leveled against the 26 defendants, filed in Philadelphia's federal court, include bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy. Among the defendants are five identified as fixers, three with ties to players through coaching roles, and two labeled as gamblers and sports handicappers. The scandal originated with two games in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2023, later expanding to NCAA games as recently as January 2025.
Prosecutors revealed that the operation impacted over 39 players from more than 17 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams, involved in rigging or attempting to rig at least 29 games. These fixers reportedly wagered millions and profited significantly, offering players bribes ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.
In a statement, NCAA President Charlie Baker emphasized the importance of maintaining competition integrity, confirming that the NCAA is investigating nearly all implicated teams. More than 40 schools, including Tulane University and DePaul University, were noted in the indictment as targets of this scheme.
The rigged contests included significant competitions and playoffs, such as the first round of the Horizon League and the second round of the Southland Conference championships. Players often recruited their teammates to deliberately underperform, sometimes preventing other players from scoring to maintain secrecy regarding the scheme's operations.
Fixers used various tactics to entice players, including sending images of cash stacks. For instance, a fixer encouraged a Saint Louis University player to recruit a teammate, instructing him to send a photo of money: “send that to him if he bite he bite if he don’t so be it lol,” according to the indictment. In another case, a fixer promised an Eastern Michigan University player $3,000, insinuating he was serious about the offer.
Payments were typically delivered in cash; however, one fixer failed to deliver promised funds to four Alabama State University players involved in a game-fixing attempt in 2024 against the University of Southern Mississippi.
Among the players charged are Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Oumar Koureissi, and Camian Shell, who played for their respective teams recently, although their alleged activities do not relate to the current 2023-24 season. Of the defendants, 15 played NCAA Division I basketball during the 2024-25 season, while five last played in the NCAA during the 2023-24 season. Notably, former NBA player Antonio Blakeney participated in the Chinese Basketball Association during the 2022-23 season.
By the end of the 2022-23 season in the Chinese Basketball Association, fixers had nearly $200,000 in bribes and shared winnings from rigged games stored in Blakeney's locker in Florida. Court documents also revealed a fixer expressing optimism about the operation, noting, “there are no guarantees in this world but death taxes and Chinese basketball.”
