NCAA opens investigations into 13 former basketball players violating betting rules
Student-athletes accused of betting on their own games, as three ex-players hit with permanent bans for similar offenses
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has said it is investigating 13 former student-athletes for cases of sports betting violations across several schools in the US.
The investigations involve ex-basketball players at schools including Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley.
The yet to be named players are accused of placing wagers on and against their teams, sharing inside information with other people for betting-related purposes, manipulating games, and refusing to participate in the active investigations.
The NCAA clarified it is releasing this information to the public due to the cases being reported by the media, but will not name the players until the investigations have concluded.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said: “The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests every year and will continue to aggressively pursue competition integrity risks such as these.
“I am grateful for the NCAA enforcement team’s relentless work and for the schools’ cooperation in these matters.
“The rise of sports betting is creating more opportunity for [student-] athletes across sports to engage in this unacceptable behavior, and while legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at the table when setting policies.”
The probes come after three basketball players from two colleges were hit with permanent bans earlier this week.
Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez, and Jalen Weaver were all found to have bet on their own games, on each other’s games, and/or provided information to people to allow them to bet during the 2024/25 season.
Robinson and Vazquez were basketball players at Fresno State, though Vasquez played for San Jose State at the time of the violations.
The investigations were initiated after the NCAA was notified by Fresno State university and a sports betting integrity monitor on January 17, 2025 about bets placed on Robinson on an earlier game – the investigations started six days later.
Robinson and Vasquez, who were roommates at Fresno State during the 2023/24 season, spoke via text messages in January, discussing Robinson’s plan to underperform in several categories – points scored, rebounds, assists, and three-pointers – during an upcoming regular season game.
The duo, plus a third party, bet a combined $2,000 on Robinson to hit the under on the aforementioned categories for Fresno State against Colorado State on January 7.
The wagers were a $200 bet to win $1,450, $800 to win $5,800, and $1,200 to win $8,700.
All bets were placed on Robinson to hit the under, with Robinson scoring three points, claiming two rebounds, one three-pointer, and no assists.
Months later, on June 24 and July 3, two daily fantasy sportsbooks forwarded information to NCAA enforcement staff stating Robinson had placed 13 prop bets on himself, totaling $454, across different parlays before five Fresno State games in December 2024 and January 2025 – which generated $618 in winnings.
Robinson also placed a four-leg parlay on December 28, which not only included prop bets on himself but also wagers on Weaver and other basketball student-athletes at several different US colleges.
When investigated, Robinson refused to participate in an interview with Fresno State and enforcement staff – as did Vasquez.
Weaver admitted to betting on himself and Robinson in an interview with enforcement staff on February 20.