NCAA penalizes six men’s basketball players in gambling investigation

The NCAA’s committee on infractions has issued penalties against six men’s basketball players at three different Division I schools for what the organization described as “betting-related game manipulation and/or student-athletes providing information to known bettors.”

As a result, all six athletes have been ruled permanently ineligible.

The violations involved three players from New Orleans — Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent — Donovan Sanders and Alvin Stredic from Mississippi Valley State, and BJ Freeman from Arizona State.

The NCAA noted that the cases at the three schools are not directly related.

In text messages NCAA investigators uncovered, Vincent texted three third parties to bet on the McNeese game, noting that he and his teammates were planning to ‘throw the game’ based on the 24-point spread (New Orleans ultimately lost by 25). In a text message between each other, Short and Hunter discussed receiving $5,000. The two also participated in FaceTime calls with a known bettor, who instructed them to ‘lay it down’ for the Dec. 28 game. In late January, the university suspended all three players while it investigated the allegations. At the time, it said the suspensions were due to an unspecified violation of team rules.

Mississippi Valley State’s Sanders, according to the NCAA, “knowingly provided information to a third party for the purposes of sports betting for two games” while teammate Stredic did the same for one game. 

A Mississippi Valley State men’s basketball player had told NCAA investigators that he had overheard Sanders last December on the phone with an unknown third party discussing ‘throwing the game’ before the Delta Devils’ matchup with Tulsa. The player claimed that Sanders asked him to get on the phone because the person on the other end of the line, who was placing a bet on the game, wanted to know that Sanders had another teammate willing to participate in the scheme. He added that Sanders was to be paid from the bet and give him a cut of the money. The unidentified player denied altering his performance or receiving money from anyone.

Arizona State’s Freeman was found to have knowingly provided information to his then-girlfriend and former Fresno State men’s basketball player Mykell Robinson, both of whom were placing bets on Freeman through their daily fantasy sports accounts. Robinson was one of three men’s basketball players permanently banned by the NCAA in September following a gambling probe. The NCAA said Freeman gave information on at least four different occasions to Robinson and at least two different occasions to his then-girlfriend, all of which were tied to prop bets on Freeman’s final stats, including points and turnovers.

Freeman, who had one season of eligibility remaining, was kicked off Arizona State’s team in February. In the spring, he announced he had committed to UCF, but the school never publicly acknowledged that he had joined the program.

The NCAA said the cases at all three schools involved a lack of cooperation from athletes, who knowingly provided false or misleading information to investigators.

All six players had prominent roles on their teams last season. Freeman was second on Arizona State in scoring (13.7 points per game), assists (2.6 per game) and 3-point attempts (149). Stredic and Sanders were two of Mississippi Valley State’s top three scorers. Short, Hunter and Vincent were three of New Orleans’ top five scorers.