01/15/26 10:16:00
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01/15 10:13 CST 15 former NCAA players among those charged in alleged scheme to
rig basketball games
15 former NCAA players among those charged in alleged scheme to rig basketball
games
PHILADELPHIA (AP) --- Federal prosecutors charged 20 people on Thursday,
including 15 former college basketball players, in what they called a betting
scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games.
Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently
as the 2024-25 season.
The other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers.
They include two men who prosecutors say worked in the training and development
of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former
NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports
handicappers.
The charges, filed in federal court in Philadelphia, include wire fraud.
In the 70-page indictment, authorities say the fixers recruited the college
basketball players with "bribe payments" usually ranging from $10,000 to
$30,000 per game.
The indictment follows a series of NCAA investigations that led to at least 10
players receiving lifetime bans this year for bets that sometimes involved
their own teams and their own performances. And the NCAA has said that at least
30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations.
More than 30 people were also charged in last year's sprawling federal takedown
of illegal gambling operations linked to professional basketball.
Concerns about gambling and college sports have grown since 2018, when the U.S.
Supreme Court struck down a federal ban on the practice, leading some states to
legalize it to varying degrees. The NCAA does not allow athletes or staff to
bet on college games, but it briefly allowed student-athletes to bet on
professional sports last year before rescinding that decision in November.
More broadly, one betting scandal after another has rocked the sports world,
where gambling revenue topped $11 billion for the first three-quarters of last
year, according to the American Gaming Association. That's up more than 13%
from the prior year, the group said.
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