Fresno State and NCAA are investigating accusations that two male basketball players participated in daily fantasy competitions based on their own performances, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The sources told ESPN that the Junior Mykell Robinson forward and the associates bet and entered daily fantasy sports competitions that involved state -owned ash games in which he played. The bets and fantasy tickets included the bass at Robinson's points and rebounds, the fountains said. According to a source of the industry, at least an important betting book in the United States received a greater interest of bets in Robinson's accessories in the games this season.
Robinson, a Junior striker, was removed from the list after playing in a game of January 11 against Nevada. The attempts to communicate with Robinson to comment were not successful.
The senior guard of the state of Fresno, Jalen Weaver, told ESPN on Thursday that he played a daily fantasy contest in its total points in the game at the Bulldogs house against New Mexico on December 31. Weaver said he risked $ 50 that would score more than 11 points on the fantasy site. He finished with 13 points in a 103-89 defeat against the wolves.
“I simply made a bad decision, and I shouldn't even have involved with that. Now, I'm obviously paying for it,” he said. “I bet in a game in which I played, but I never tried to sabotage the season. I never bet on, we would never bet my underground.”
Weaver said the Athletics Department of the State of Fresno showed him a thread of text between Robinson and himself discussing bets. Weaver said he was fired from the team and plans to enter the transfer portal at the end of the season.
A third Fresno State player, the second year student Zoon Collins, was held out of the Air Force game on Saturday for allegedly betting on professional sports, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. A lawyer who represents Collins in another matter did not return multiple messages left by ESPN this week. Collins remains on the list that appears on the school website.
On Saturday, when playing for the first time was reported, Fresno State said in a statement that Weaver and Collins were “being retained from the competition as the university reviews an eligibility issue.”
An official of the Fresno state declined to comment to ESPN, citing the ongoing investigation. The Mountain West conference did not respond to multiple messages left by ESPN. The NCAA declined to comment on the investigation, citing confidentiality, but said in a statement that continued to advocate for the prohibition of support bets on individual university players. Support bets, he said, “significantly threaten the university athletics environment, risking the integrity of competition and attacking students athletes for harassment.”
“Sports bets are increasing and, although the association, conferences and schools are doing everything possible to protect the games and students who play them, it is clear that the types of bets offered and the prevalence of unregulated betting markets prevent our efforts,” said the NCAA.
NCAA prohibits students with athletes participating in sports betting, including fantasy sports. Athletes who have manipulated games, shared information with apostators or bet on their games can face a permanent loss of eligibility.
Before the Air Force game, Weaver and Collins were two of the three best scorers of the state of Fresno, with averages of 12.5 and 12.0 points, respectively. Collins also led the team with 4.7 assists per game.
The sources told ESPN that it is not believed that the case of the state of Fresno is linked to a federal investigation into the links of a game ring with suspicious bets in university basketball games.
ESPN has reported that the betting accounts associated with the ring placed the bets considered suspected of the betting corridors against Temple, the east of Michigan, North Carolina A&T, the state of Mississippi Valley and New Orleans in the last two seasons.
