The college basketball world woke up on Thursday morning to a seismic shock: 20 individuals were charged by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for “conspiracy to bribe and manipulate college basketball games” dating back to 2023.
“This was a massive scheme that enveloped the world of college basketball,” U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said on Thursday via news conference. “This was a significant and rampant corruption of college athletics.”
The indictments follow a lead-up on potential match-fixing investigations at the NBA level, with former LSU Tiger and NBA veteran Antonio Blakeney charged in both cases.
The news was first reported by Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
The full list of charges include bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aiding-and-abetting.
Per the indictment, several defendants “agreed to recruit NCAA players who would accept bribe payments in exchange for helping to influence outcomes of NCAA basketball games” and were particular about finding players who “would help ensure their team failed to cover the spread[.]”
Players in the scheme were offered between $10,000 and $30,000 per game to participate, and were encouraged to recruit teammates to help “ensure its success.”
Crucial to the scheme was “target[ing]… NCAA basketball players for whom… payments would meaningfully supplement or exceed legitimate NIL opportunities.”
Per the indictment, fixers were alleged to have traveled directly to NCAA campuses and other nearby locations to make direct cash payments to players who were allegedly involved in match-fixing.
Overall, the scheme is said to have included 39 college basketball players on 17 teams, who are alleged to have shaved points in over 29 contests at the Division I level, including Eastern Michigan’s current second-leading scorer in Carlos Hart.
Hart’s allegations, dated in March 2024, were during his tenure at the University of New Orleans.
Hart, as well as an unnamed teammate at UNO, is accused of accepting $20,000 to point-shave in the first half of a Southland Conference Postseason Tournament contest against Lamar University on March 11th, 2024. Wagers totaling $150,000 were placed on the full-game spread, which saw Lamar as an 11-point favorite. The scheme was successful, with Carlos Hart notching one total point in 16 minutes of game time.
Several Mid-American Conference teams were also affected by the incident.
Former Buffalo basketball players Shawn Fulcher and Isaiah Adams— as well as an unnamed player “known to the grand jury”— agreed to partake in three separate fixed games over two weeks time, from late February to early March of 2024.
The first contest alleged to have been fixed was on February 24th, 2024, against Western Michigan. The indictment states bets approximating $90,000 were placed on WMU to beat the first-half spread of three points. WMU outscored Buffalo 47-32 at the half, ensuring the success of the bet.
Buffalo rallied back in the second half, with WMU only scoring 44 points to UB’s 40.
The second contest was three days later, against Kent State. Bettors placed approximately $424,000 on the Golden Flashes to cover an 8.5-point first-half spread. The three players failed to fix the game, with the halftime deficit sitting at 39-27.
Fulcher, Adams and the unnamed player were then approached by the bettors and agreed to fix the upcoming contest against the Ohio Bobcats and arrange for an additional $54,000 of bribe payments in cash.
Bettors placed an unknown amount on the March 5th game against Ohio, adding it as a leg on a parlay bet. This time, Buffalo failed to cover the 5.5-point spread, making good on the scheme.
The 2023-24 Buffalo Bulls finished 4-27 overall on the season, completing their first season under current head coach George Halcovage.
NCAA president Charlie Baker released a statement to media on Thursday in response, while also calling on various legislators and gaming companies to eliminate “threats to integrity.”
“Protecting competition integrity is of the utmost importance for the NCAA,” Baker said. “We are thankful for law enforcement agencies working to detect and combat integrity issues and match manipulation in college sports
“The pattern of college basketball game integrity conduct revealed by law enforcement today is not entirely new information to the NCAA,” Baker continued. “Through helpful collaboration and with industry regulators, we have finished or have open investigations into almost all of the teams in today’s indictment.”
This story is considered to be still developing, and will be updated as appropriate.
The full indictment can be read below: