As college basketball enters the heart of conference play, the fallout from one of the largest point-shaving scandals over the last century is extending into the gambling industry.
At a press conference this month in Philadelphia, federal prosecutors announced indictments against 26 defendants, including 20 current and former college basketball players. In a period rife with scandal across the legalised gambling industry, the sweeping probe represents the latest black eye for the integrity of sports.
Following recent scandals in MLB and the NBA, the complex point-shaving scheme raises questions about whether the expansion of sports wagering across the US has eroded integrity protections in professional and collegiate athletics.
Last week, industry experts traveled abroad for the 2026 ICE Barcelona Conference, one of the year’s largest events on the global gaming calendar. There, stakeholders addressed enhanced safeguards that could make it more difficult for nefarious actors to effectuate the schemes.
Industry leaders converged upon Barcelona at a time when Congress is pressing leagues to enact reforms to better protect the nation’s largest sports from match manipulation through prop bets and other illicit actions.
How NIL factors into college basketball betting scandal
The takedown in Philadelphia is arguably the largest point-shaving case in college basketball since the infamous 1951 scandal that ensnared the City College of New York and several others throughout the city. While players from more than a dozen schools are implicated in the new case, none are from a major program that has been to the Final Four since 2000.
Although none of the defendants allegedly fixed a game while competing for a Power 5 school, three universities — DePaul, Saint Louis and Tulane — have earned moderate success over the history of their programs.
The absence of one of the blue bloods of the sport could be by design. David Metcalf, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, indicated that the new landscape in college basketball brought about by name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation might have played a role in the criminal enterprise.
None of the defendants received an NIL deal roughly close to the $28 million reportedly earned by former Duke star Cooper Flagg last year. The disparity in compensation between Flagg and the players from mid-major schools provides a runway for lesser-known hoopsters to engage in a fraudulent scheme, integrity experts say.
Beyond NIL, other measures potentially under consideration include:
- Revamped reporting protocols from integrity monitors
- Enhanced due diligence on surface-level investigations
- Added scrutiny on in-game betting, including the ability to freeze wagering on suspicious contests in real time
A zero-tolerance approach?
The sentiments from Metcalf were echoed by Matt Holt, CEO of Gaming Compliance International. Before joining GCI, Holt served in a similar capacity at IC360, a leading sports gambling integrity monitor. At IC360, Holt was instrumental in spotting irregular movement before a 2024 Temple-UAB game, as rapid line fluctuations presented red flags.
Last fall, the NCAA permanently banned former Temple guard Hysier Miller for betting small amounts against his team on three occasions. Although Miller was not named in the indictment, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania also flagged suspicious activity during a 2024 LaSalle-St. Bonaventure game. Temple dismissed guard CJ Hines on 16 January after he was indicted for allegedly fixing a game while he played for Alabama State.
Of the 20 players indicted, five appeared on a Division I roster during the 2025-26 season. Kennesaw State guard Simeon Cottle opened the season as the Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year. Cottle and the others are facing charges of bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
A contingent of bookmakers also made their presence felt at the ICE conference. Former BetonSports CEO David Carruthers attended it approximately 16 years after he received a 33-month sentence for running an illegal sportsbook operation. Carruthers told iGB that he favours a zero-tolerance approach for athletes who engage in match fixing, with consideration for lifetime bans against first-time offenders.
Smaller limits for non-NIL games?
Holt, meanwhile, recommends the imposition of lower limits for games featuring non-NIL players. Two of the defendants, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, the purported ringleaders in the scheme, are also facing charges in the highly publicised NBA investigation. In one instance, the defendants and others acting at their direction placed wagers totalling $123,789 on a first-half DePaul spread bet. Butler led DePaul 45-27 at the half, easily covering the 6.5-point spread.
According to the indictment, participating players typically received bribery payments in the range of $10,000 to $30,000 for engaging in the conspiracy. Holt points to the environment on the college gridiron, where two College Football Playoff participants, Tulane and James Madison, have NIL budgets that are a sliver of major programs such as SEC schools.
Consequently, he is pushing for published wagering limits in college sports based on the NIL budgets of the teams involved. Since the players are not compensated at anywhere near the same levels as players from a major conference, they should not be treated equally in terms of what is available to wager, Holt argues.
“The college world has changed, it’s just changed,” Holt told iGB in Barcelona. “We need to adapt new policies when things in the world change.”