Six former men’s college basketball players allegedly rigged games, provided illegal info: NCAA

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.”

For the Mississippi Valley allegations, the NCAA enforcement staff tapped an integrity monitoring service to review activity in their games for suspicious activity after it was reported in February 2025 that the school was potentially tied to an NBA gambling ring.

The integrity monitoring service pointed the agency to suspicious betting patterns for a game against Alcorn State on Jan. 6. Mississippi Valley lost the game, 54-51.

After receiving the tip, the NCAA approached Mississippi Valley to launch an inquiry into the program.

During the investigation, the NCAA enforcement staff interviewed another basketball player who said that he overheard Sanders talking to someone on the phone and mentioned “throwing the game.”

Sanders approached his teammate to participate in the conversation because the third party had told Sanders he wanted to bet on the game and wanted confirmation that one of his teammates would participate in the plan.

The anonymous teammate denied taking part in the scheme or receiving any money tied to it. He also noted that Sanders texted him to delete their conversation.

In a separate interview, Sanders denied any knowledge of the anonymous player’s account of the events and provided no explanation for the text messages.

He did acknowledge that he and Stredic were offered money to throw the team’s game against Alcorn State on Jan. 6 by another anonymous caller, who instructed him to “perform poorly” in the first half.

The Arizona State violation came to light when the NCAA enforcement staff investigated text messages for a separate case involving former Fresno State Bulldog Mykell Robinson.

The investigation unearthed four separate occasions when Freeman knowingly provided information to Robinson, who was betting on Freeman via daily fantasy sports accounts.

The report also indicates that Freeman knowingly provided information to his then-girlfriend, who also bet on Freeman via daily fantasy platforms.