Six former men's college basketball players at three schools — New Orleans, Mississippi Valley State and Arizona State — engaged in gambling schemes that included game manipulation or sharing information with known bettors, the NCAA announced Friday.
Dae Dae Hunter, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent, who played for New Orleans last season, manipulated their performance for betting purposes in seven games, according to the NCAA's findings. In all seven games, Hunter, Short and Vincent allegedly lost or attempted to lose by more points than the spread at sportsbooks as part of a conspiracy with outside bettors, the NCAA said.
Two Mississippi Valley State players, Donovan Sanders and Alvin Stredic, were offered money to pitch in a game on Jan. 6, 2025 against Alabama A&M, according to the NCAA. Sanders was also heard talking about “throwing the game” before a Dec. 21, 2024, contest against Tulsa, the NCAA found.
Former Arizona State forward BJ Freeman was found to have shared information with a former teammate who was betting on Freeman's performance on a daily fantasy site.
Vincent and Stredic denied participating in any game planning when contacted by ESPN on Friday. Attempts to contact Short, Hunter, Sanders and Freeman were unsuccessful.
The NCAA permanently revoked the eligibility of all six players. None of them are enrolled in their previous school.
In the New Orleans case, the NCAA found that Hunter, Short and Vincent were overheard discussing the alleged plan before and during a Dec. 28, 2024, game against McNeese State. An unidentified athlete told the NCAA that during a timeout near the end of the competition, Short ordered the player not to score any more points, according to the findings. New Orleans trailed by 23 points and lost by 25.
A second unidentified athlete told the NCAA that Short told him that a bettor had contacted him on social media suggesting he lose the McNeese State matchup, according to the report. The athlete said that after the game, Short and Hunter met someone about 45 minutes outside of New Orleans to pick up cash, according to the NCAA.
Vincent's text messages included screenshots from FanDuel and DraftKings with specific amounts to bet on the McNeese State game, according to the NCAA.
The NCAA also found text messages on Short's phone in which he and Hunter discussed receiving $5,000 and spoke with a known bettor on Jan. 20, 2025, the day of a game against Northwestern State.
In all, the NCAA found the athletes participated in the scheme against McNeese State, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Southeastern Louisiana, East Texas A&M, Northwestern State and Incarnate Word. New Orleans lost and failed to cover the spread in six of seven games. The Privateers defeated East Texas A&M 82-73 on January 18.
New Orleans suspended Short, Hunter and Vincent in late January.
At Mississippi Valley State, an unidentified men's basketball player said he overheard teammate Sanders talking on the phone about “losing the game” against Tulsa, according to the NCAA report. Sanders then asked the player to join the call with the bettor, who wanted to know if other players would participate in the alleged scheme. Sanders later ordered the player to delete his text messages, according to the NCAA.
Sportsbooks marked Mississippi Valley State's game against Tulsa after a series of big bets were placed on the Golden Hurricane to cover the 26-point spread, according to documents obtained by ESPN in an open records request. Mississippi Valley State lost by 45.
The NCAA found that Sanders and Stredic provided information to bettors in a second game, against Alabama A&M on Jan. 6. Sanders told NCAA investigators that he and Stredic were offered money to lose that game by another bettor, who told them to play poorly in the first half.
Stredic denied the NCAA's allegation that he knowingly provided information to people that Mississippi Valley State would lose by more points than the deficit against Alabama A&M.
“I had nothing to do with it,” Stredic told ESPN on Friday. “I gave my phone to the NCAA and that was it, and then I finished the season.”
Stredic added that he spoke with an FBI agent in recent weeks to discuss the matter.
In its report, the NCAA said the amount of bets for the Mississippi Valley State-Alabama A&M game was 3.6 times greater than the average amount bet on SWAC games.
In total, the NCAA found that Sanders provided inside information to bettors in two games, while Stredic did so in one.
The NCAA found that former Arizona State guard Freeman gave information to former Fresno State player Mykell Robinson before at least four games so Robinson could bet on his statistics, according to its report. Freeman also gave information to his then-girlfriend before two games so she could bet on his stats.
Robinson and Freeman were teammates at Dodge City Community College in Kansas in 2021-22.
Robinson was one of three athletes banned by the NCAA from Fresno State and San Jose State. The NCAA announced in September that Robinson had manipulated his performance for gambling purposes and conspired with two players to bet on his statistics.
ESPN previously reported that an NBA betting ring placed suspicious bets on men's college basketball games, including those involving Mississippi Valley State. Some of the same accounts also placed big bets on prop bets involving former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Rozier was accused last month in a federal indictment of manipulating his performance and providing inside information to bettors. Through a lawyer, Rozier denied the allegations.
Porter admitted to manipulating his performance in an NBA game to benefit the players. He pleaded guilty to federal charges last year and is awaiting sentencing.
The NCAA said in October that it had opened investigations into possible betting violations by about 30 current or former men's basketball players.
