The NCAA disqualified six men’s college basketball players on Friday as a result of three separate sports betting cases involving a powerful conference school and allegations that players threw games to lose by more points than the spread.
Note: Video from a previous report.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions has released the results of its investigation into Arizona State’s Chatton “PJ” Freeman; Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent at New Orleans and Donovan Sanders and Alvin Strydick at Mississippi Valley State either manipulated their performances to lose games, failed to cover betting lines or guarantee access to certain bets, or provided information that enabled others to do so during the 2024-25 regular season.
The development comes as the sports world faces increasing scrutiny over betting. Nearly three dozen people were arrested last month, including an NBA player and coach, for what federal law enforcement officials described as their involvement in multiple illegal gambling activities. Just this week, Dana White, president and CEO of the UFC, said he had been in contact with the FBI about a bout that involved unusual betting patterns.
For its part, the NCAA said last month that it was investigating at least 30 current or former players over gambling allegations. The NCAA also banned three college basketball players in September for betting on their respective games at Fresno State and San Jose State.
Arizona State is the only power conference school involved in the recent announcements. Freeman became embroiled in the investigation when the NCAA reviewed text messages between him and a banned player in September, Mikel Robinson, who played at Fresno State. Records on Robinson’s phone indicated that on four separate occasions between November and December 2024, Freeman provided information to Robinson, who was betting on Freeman through daily fantasy sports accounts.
Freeman also provided information on at least two occasions to his then-girlfriend, who was also betting on Freeman.
In one case, Freeman provided information to Robinson to bet on Freeman’s turnover against Florida on Dec. 14, 2024, according to the NCAA. Arizona State entered the game at 8-1, having recently beaten two NCAA Tournament teams. The Sun Devils lost 83-66 to the ninth-place Gators, finishing the season 13-20. Freeman had one turnover in the game.
The state of Arizona declined to comment on the case when contacted by The Associated Press.
The violations came to light in New Orleans against Hunter, Short and Vincent after the NCAA received information about the game-fixing. The NCAA said a student-athlete overheard the three players discussing a third-party betting on their game against McNeese State on Dec. 28, 2024. New Orleans lost 86-61.
The same student-athlete reported that during a timeout near the end of the game, Short ordered him not to score any more points. New Orleans has suspended all three student-athletes for the remainder of the season while investigating the allegations.
The NCAA investigation showed that the three players manipulated their performances in seven games from December through January to lose more points than the margin of that game.
The NCAA reached out to the Integrity Monitoring Service to review Mississippi Valley State games after a related but separate NBA gambling episode uncovered earlier this year showed possible ties to college basketball, including the school.
The service indicated betting trends for Mississippi Valley State’s Jan. 6 game against Alabama A’s&M was suspicious. Mississippi Valley State lost 79-67.
During an interview with the NCAA, a men’s basketball student-athlete said that before the team’s game on December 21, 2024, he and Sanders spoke on the phone with an unknown third party talking about “throwing the game.”
Sanders asked the student-athlete to participate in the call because the third party told Sanders that this person intended to bet on the game and wanted to know that one of Sanders’ other teammates would participate in the scheme.
The student-athlete denied altering his performance or receiving money from Sanders or any other individuals. Sanders texted the same student-athlete after that game and asked him to delete his messages.
During the second interview, Sanders was unable to explain the student-athlete’s version of events or text messages. However, he said he and Stridic were offered money to throw the team’s game on January 6 by another anonymous caller, who instructed them to perform poorly in the first half.
Enforcement officers demonstrated that Sanders knowingly provided information to a third party for sports betting purposes in two games, while Stridek did the same in one game.
New Orleans State and Mississippi Valley State did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.
These announcements come on the heels of the NCAA allowing student-athletes and employees to bet on professional sports. It was originally approved by all three divisions and was scheduled to go into effect on Nov. 1, but late last month the Division I Board of Directors voted to postpone the start date until Nov. 22.
The rarely used rule allows 30 days for each Division I school to vote to kill a proposal if it is approved by less than 75% of the Division I Cabinet. Even if the rule passes, players are not allowed to bet on any college sports.
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