The New Orleans men’s basketball program joins a concerningly growing list of college basketball programs implicated with sports gambling investigations.
Jeff Goodman posted on Twitter Wednesday morning that New Orleans, which had been without four of its top five scorers (James White, Jah Short, Dae Dae Hunter and Jamond Vincent) in response to a sports betting investigation.
The New Orleans men’s basketball team has held out four of its top five scorers since a Jan. 27 loss to UIW due to an investigation into sports gambling, sources told @TheFieldOf68.
Leading scorer James White (19.2 ppg), Jah Short (9.2 ppg), Dae Dae Hunter (8.2 ppg) and Jamond…
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 26, 2025
New Orleans is — for now — one of at least five college basketball programs this season that are or have been named in sports betting scandals.
The Fresno Bee reported days ago that Fresno State suspended two and kicked one player off the team in response to sports gambling concerns and is being investgated by the NCAA. Two players, Jalen Weaver and Zaon Collins were “being withheld from competition as the University reviews an eligibility matter,” per the ESPN report.
Weaver and Collins remain with the team but are suspended while Mykell Robinson, who hadn’t played since Jan. 11, is no longer with the team.
The Mountain West acknowledged the investigation on the record with the Fresno Bee, noting little in a statement.
“The Mountain West has been in communication with Fresno State as the institution processes a review of an eligibility matter,” the league said.
ESPN reported back in early February that the gambling ring associated with ousted NBA player Jontay Porter Jr. is reportedly in cahoots with other college basketball programs.
Sportsbook accounts connected to the gambling ring bet against North Carolina A&T, Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Michigan in games this season, sources told ESPN’s David Purdum.
Temple was also noted in the ,report and additional college basketball programs were targeted the previous two seasons.
“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 ESPN and other outlets at the time. “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 or potential investigations.”
The American Gambling Association prohibits partners from entering brand partnerships with schools. Schools used to be able to enter this types of partnerships, but a rule was made in 2024 to sever the relationship between sportsbooks and schools.
In response to backlash, in March 2023, the American Gaming Association announced that its members, which include sports betting operators, were prohibited from sponsorship deals with NCAA athletic departments altogether.
Also this week, Pat Forde and Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated reported that at least nine college basketball games were flagged for suspicious activity and could be linked to the same ring that implicated Porter Jr.
Some of those games and wagers that raised concerns were $100,000 on Loyola Chicago against Tulsa on Nov. 17, 2022; $28,500 on Ball State against Kent State on Feb. 24, 2021; and $60,000 on Toledo against Buffalo five days earlier, SI reported.
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