A federal investigation into an organized web of alleged game-fixing in men’s basketball at both the professional and college levels is advancing, sources tell Sports Illustrated, with a grand jury convened and multiple jurisdictions involved.
In addition to former NBA player Jontay Porter, who was banned from the league for life last year, investigators are looking into the performances of other NBA players, sources say. Veteran guard Terry Rozier, currently of the Miami Heat, is the subject of scrutiny dating back to his time with the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, per sources. The Wall Street Journal originally reported the Rozier inquiry Thursday.
In a game against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 23, 2023, Rozier started but played just 10 minutes and scored five points before taking himself out of the lineup, citing a sore foot, according to media reports from the game. Rozier did not play again that season. Rozier, an 11-year veteran and 14 points per game career scorer, is a much more prominent player than Porter, a lightly used bench player who averaged 3.7 points per game over parts of two NBA seasons.
“In March 2023, the NBA was alerted to unusual betting activity related to Terry Rozier’s performance in a game between Charlotte and New Orleans,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement. “The league conducted an investigation and did not find a violation of NBA rules. We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation.”
The Porter case arose after the player allegedly amassed significant gambling debts by early 2024. In order to have the debts forgiven, Porter agreed to leave certain games early to ensure the success of prop bets that he would underperform expectations.
Beyond the NBA, the federal probe is believed to involve as many as seven college programs, sources say. The schools are primarily from the mid-major and low-major ranks, with players allegedly involved in gambling on their own games or trying to alter the outcome of games during the 2023–24 season.
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s U.S. Attorney’s office is handling the inquiry into suspicious wagering activity on at least one Temple men’s basketball game last March, against UAB, sources say. In that game, the first-half wagering line jumped from UAB being favored by 1.5 points to the Blazers being favored by eight, which prompted an alert to be sent out from the monitoring service U.S. Integrity. Some betting outlets stopped accepting wagers on the game, which UAB won 100–72, after leading by 15 points at halftime.
A player at the center of that inquiry is former Temple guard Hysier “Fabb” Miller, who was the Owls’ leading scorer last season. Miller scored eight points and committed three turnovers in the game, making 3-of-9 field goal attempts. Miller transferred from Temple to Virginia Tech during the offseason but was dismissed by the Hokies before this season began for what the school said was “circumstances prior to his enrollment at Virginia Tech.”
Miller was interviewed by the NCAA for five hours in 2024, according to his attorney, Jason P. Bologna.
“Hysier gave the NCAA his cellphone so they could search it, he provided every document they requested, and he answered every question they asked,” Bologna told SI this week. “He did these things because he wanted to play NCAA basketball this season, and he is devastated he could not. Hysier is very grateful for the opportunities basketball has given him. He recently signed a pro contract in Germany, and he is focused on this new chapter in his basketball life.”
Bologna declined comment on additional SI questions.
Beyond Porter, who was charged with conspiracy in July, at least four other men have been arrested in connection with his case.
A Las Vegas man was arrested in January at the airport while attempting to flee the country. Shane Hennen was arrested at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas on a one-way ticket to Colombia. According to a court filing, Hennen was attempting to board the flight when he was arrested, and enforcement agents found him in possession of multiple cellphones and nearly $10,000 in cash.
Another man charged in the Porter scheme, Long Phi “Bruce” Pham, was arrested last June while attempting to board a flight in New York City for Australia. According to government documents, “Pham had in his possession, among other things, approximately $12,000 in cash; two cashier’s checks totaling $80,000; a series of betting slips; and three cellular phones.” Pham pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud in October.
Two additional men, Timothy McCormack of New York and Mahmud Mollah of Lansdale, Pa., have been charged in the Porter case, as well.
Meanwhile, college basketball has been simmering with speculation about additional schools being ensnared in the federal investigation. However, representatives from several schools believed to have players or games under scrutiny tell SI they’ve not been contacted by either investigators or NCAA enforcement representatives.
One source familiar with the investigations said the belief is the NCAA is letting the criminal inquiries take precedence. That is consistent with the association’s handling of a previous federal investigation of corruption in college basketball that began in 2017 and lingered over the sport for several years.
“The NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition,” the NCAA said in a statement to SI. “The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever suspicious reports are received. Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current, pending or potential investigations.”
In mid-January, ESPN reported that a betting integrity firm flagged a game between Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan due to unusual wagering activity. Large wagers were placed on Central Michigan to cover the first-half spread in the game, according to gambling watchdog firm Integrity Compliance 360. The firm also sent an alert regarding suspicious betting activity on the Wright State game at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 21.
At least one other Division I player had his college career end within the last year over gambling allegations. D’Angelo Stines, who played at Loyola (Md.), did not participate in the last nine games of the 2023–24 season and has not played since. Sources say Stines has remained in school at Loyola and is hoping to graduate this year.
“Loyola was made aware of an individual’s gambling violation that was promptly reported to the NCAA,” a Loyola spokesperson told SI last March. “The individual was immediately removed from the program, and the NCAA accepted the self-report and took no further action. The conference office investigated to ensure the integrity of League contests by reaching out to U.S. Integrity, the conference’s monitoring partner. U.S. Integrity analyzed contests and no anomalies were discovered. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency provided contact information on operators licensed in the state, and those operators confirmed all previously known information.”
A source close to Stines described him as “a really, really nice kid who did something bad, something stupid.”
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