Six college basketball players allegedly manipulated games and/or shared information with bettors, violations that carry consequences of permanent ineligibility, the NCAA announced Friday.
The players — Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short, Jamond Vincent, Donovan Sanders, Alvin Stredic and Chatton “BJ” Freeman — are no longer enrolled at their previous schools.
Hunter, Short, and Vincent played for the University of New Orleans, Sanders and Stredic were enrolled at Mississippi Valley and Freeman was a member of Arizona State.
Other betting-related investigations involving college basketball players remain ongoing.
The incident involving the three players at New Orleans first came to light in February after the NCAA enforcement staff approached the school, which reported receiving a tip about potential “game manipulation” involving players on the men’s basketball team.
The tip noted that another student-athlete overheard the three players talking about a third party placing a bet for them on their game against McNeese State on Dec. 28, 2024.
The Privateers lost that game, 86-61.
The report mentions that the same student-athlete claimed that Short told him not to score any more points during a timeout toward the end of the contest.
During the investigation, it was uncovered that Vincent sent text messages to a third party to bet on that contest because he and his teammates planned to “throw the game.”
All three players were suspended by the program for the remainder of the season while the investigation happen.
There were also text messages between Short and Hunter discussing receiving $5,000.
The two players also purportedly participated in FaceTime calls with a known bettor who told them to “lay it down” for the next game.
The NCAA reported that “Vincent acknowledged the conversations about throwing the game but denied following through with the plan, and Short and Hunter denied knowledge of and involvement in the plan.”