The illegal gambling scheme that has led to the lifetime banishment of a player from the NBA is potentially tied to college basketball.
According to an ESPN report, a series of bets on three college basketball teams were placed by the same accounts that saw suspicious wagers placed on games involving former Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
The teams in question are Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina A&T.
Between December 2024 and January 2025, Integrity Compliance 360 flagged two Eastern Michigan games for suspicious wagering activity for first-half action.
The first half of a January game against North Carolina A&T and Delaware was also flagged following heavy action leading to a drastic line change of the spread.
The accounts tied to the suspicious wagering are also connected to wagers that were placed on a game involving former Temple University men’s basketball player Hysier Miller, who is being investigated by federal authorities following irregular betting activity ahead of a March 2024 contest against the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Mississippi Valley State, Eastern Michigan or North Carolina A&T have yet to comment on the matter. The NCAA has voiced its stance on the matter in a statement to ESPN.
“The NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition,” said the NCAA. “The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever suspicious reports are received.”
NBA gambling scheme
Last year, Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA for his involvement in an illegal gambling scheme after he provided insider information to a group of co-conspirators to pay back significant gambling debts. According to court documents, the co-conspirators encouraged Porter to exit certain NBA games early to pay back his outstanding debt.
On two separate occasions, Porter notified the co-conspirators of his intention to leave a game early due to “sickness” and “injury.” As a result of the notice, the co-conspirators placed wagers on the “under” player prop markets for Porter with the group winning more than $150,000. The bets were flagged for suspicious activity by several operators.
Porter has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in New York federal court. He had a sentencing hearing scheduled for last month, which has now been moved to May 20.
The same illegal gambling scheme Porter found himself involved in is also tied to Rozier, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. Federal prosecutors are looking into Rozier for his alleged involvement in the same scheme after the co-conspirators wagered a large sum of money on Rozier during the 2022-23 season with the wagers also flagged.
U.S. Integrity flagged the bets that were placed on Rozier’s prop markets. Operators in return shut down their markets for Rozier. U.S. Integrity also notified the NBA of the wagers with the league conducting an investigation of its own that found no wrongdoing.
Rozier hasn’t been charged or accused of a crime as the investigation continues.
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