College student-athletes are (legally) getting paid more than ever before thanks to NIL deals, but they’re still chasing under-the-table dollars.
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NCAA announced it has launched several cases into 13 former men’s basketball players at Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley.
Other investigations are in various stages of completion, but those players alone are being accused of “betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, knowingly manipulating scoring or game outcomes, and/or refusing to participate in the enforcement staff’s investigation.”
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The NCAA reports that each of the schools and staff members has been cleared of wrongdoing in the illegal betting schemes, and they’re not looking to penalize the institutions themselves.
As for students, the NCAA will hold off on naming the alleged perpetrators until the case is completed, but confirmed that none of them are currently enrolled at their previous schools.
The NCAA says it uncovered the risky bets through its integrity monitoring program when its enforcement staff’s interest was piqued by “unusual betting activities” by the aforementioned teams. It was only through “text messages, direct messages on social media platforms, and other material evidence” that their suspicions were proved.
It hasn’t been announced what punishments the former student-athletes face once the cases are closed, but the NCAA has maintained that anyone caught betting on their own team leads to “permanent loss of any remaining collegiate eligibility.”
The news comes just a day after three student-athletes at Fresno State and San Jose State, named Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez, and Jalen Weaver, were kicked off their teams. The NCAA says they bet on their games, each other’s games, and help others do the same during the 2024-25 regular season, so “as a result, they violated ethical conduct rules, triggering permanent ineligibility.”
Robinson and Vasquez were roommates at Fresno State, and strategized that the former would purposely perform poorly in one game, and bet $2,200 on those stats. They’d receive a $15,950 payout, and Robinson would pull 13 similar stunts throughout the season.
See social media’s reaction to the betting controversy below.
