26 charged in connection with rigging college basketball games as part of FBI investigation

Federal prosecutors charged 26 people in an alleged point-shaving scheme involving dozens of college basketball players, authorities announced Thursday.

According to an indictment, players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams “fixed and attempted to fix” over 29 games.

The allegations cover a period between September 2022 and February 2025. The indictment also includes allegations of influencing or fixing Chinese Basketball Association men’s basketball games.

According to the indictment, players were allegedly bribed to tank games to enrich sports gamblers.

Some of the people allegedly involved in the scheme were former college players who are accused of bribing current college players to shave points on games so bettors could capitalize.

Games involving the following teams were allegedly rigged or impacted, investigators say: Alabama State, Western Michigan University, Butler, St. John’s, Tulane, East Carolina, McNeese State, Nicholls State, St. Louis University, Duquesne, La Salle, Fordham, SUNY Buffalo, Kent State, Ohio University, Georgetown and DePaul.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia is holding a news conference on the case.

NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the newly revealed allegations by saying that the organization has finished or opened investigations into almost all of the teams named.

“The pattern of college basketball game integrity conduct revealed by law enforcement today is not entirely new information to the NCAA,” Baker said in a statement.

The announcement comes less than three months after NBA mainstays Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were among dozens of people arrested in a sweeping FBI crackdown on alleged illegal gambling rings.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.