Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information surfaces.
This morning, United States District Attorney David Metcalf announced charges in a college basketball point-shaving scandal involving more than 39 players on 17 Division I NCAA teams, a former Chinese Basketball Association player, and a former NBA player.
“Our office is announcing criminal charges against 26 defendants that we allege perpetrated a transnational criminal scheme to fix Men’s NCAA Division 1 Basketball Games as well as professional Chinese Basketball Association Games,” said Metcalf, announcing the charges.
20 of the 26 players named have played college basketball within the past two seasons, including Tulane University, one of Florida Atlantic’s American Conference rivals.
“The Department of Justice will step in to protect what is a sacred institution of American life,” Metcalf said, as his opening statement in a press conference regarding the indictment.
Former Tulane forward Kevin Cross Jr. was named in the lawsuit, allegedly conspiring to fix Tulane’s games and working with fixers Roderick Winkler and Antonio Blakeney. According to paragraph 40 of the lawsuit, Cross Jr. was allegedly paid $30,000 to fix a game during the 2024 season against East Carolina University, another American Conference team.
According to paragraph 42 of the lawsuit, prosecutors alleged that on March 2, 2024, Cross Jr., Winkler and Blakeney discussed fixing FAU’s basketball game against Tulane. Sportsbooks had the Owls favored to win by 15 points. The Owls defeated Tulane 79-73, failing to cover the fifteen-point spread and Cross, Winkler, Blakeney and defendant Shane Heenan lost approximately $200,000 because of it.
These athletes recruited others to join the lawsuits and accepted offers to help fix specific games so bettors would win their wagers.
The fixers targeted players who earned less name, image, and likeness (NIL) money so that bettors’ payments would exceed their NIL income; they targeted players on underdog teams who had previously lost games and failed to cover the spread.
Following the release of the indictment, NCAA president Charlie Baker released a statement, stating that the NCAA enforcement staff has opened betting integrity investigations into approximately 40 players from 20 schools over the past year, including “almost all of the teams in today’s indictment.”
“The Association has and will continue to aggressively pursue sports betting violations in college athletics using a layered integrity monitoring program that covers over 22,000 contests,” Baker said. “We urge all student-athletes to make well-informed choices to avoid jeopardizing the game and their eligibility.”
The University Press is still awaiting a response from the FAU Athletics Department regarding the situation.
Mikai Datilus is the Sports Editor for the University Press. Email him at [email protected] or DM him on Instagram @mikaidat for more information on this and other stories.
