NCAA continues to crack down on student-athlete sports betting.
On Thursday, September 11, the nonprofit organization announced it was investigating 13 former men’s basketball players for their involvement in potential gambling activity. The NCAA did not reveal the individuals’ identities, but confirmed they were associated with six different schools: Eastern Michigan University, Temple University, Arizona State University, University of New Orleans, North Carolina A&T State University, and Mississippi Valley State University.
The NCAA enforcement staff said the suspected violations vary from case to case, but include athletes “betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, knowingly manipulating scoring or game outcomes,” and refusing to participate in the NCAA’s investigation.
The organization also confirmed it would not pursue penalties against any of the schools, as none of the current coaching staffs were “alleged to have been involved in the violations.”
Officials said they became aware of “unusual betting activities” through various sources and their integrity monitoring program. They determined violations had occurred after reviewing text messages, social media DMS, and “other material evidence.”
The NCAA said it would not release the names of the subjects until the infractions process was finished; however, the organization emphasized that none of the players in question were enrolled at the schools where the alleged infractions took place.
“The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests every year and will continue to aggressively pursue competition integrity risks such as these,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a press release. “I am grateful for the NCAA enforcement team’s relentless work and for the schools’ cooperation in these matters."
He continued: "The rise of sports betting is creating more opportunity for athletes across sports to engage in this unacceptable behavior, and while legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at the table when setting policies.”