Betting Scandal in College Basketball Sees Three Players Banned

One of the unfortunate side effects of Americans having the freedom to wager on sporting events is when the actual players in these events abuse the activity in an attempt at personal gain. A very small number of athletes have been caught gambling on sports and when they are caught the punishment is swift and severe. The purpose of these very serious punishments is to discourage future gambling on sports by athletes.

Punishments for gambling on sports if you are an athlete are rarely, if ever, actual jail time. But they are something much worse to elite athletes who hoped to have a long and fruitful career in sports. They are almost always banned for life from the sport itself.

Three basketball players have been caught and banned from participating in NCAA sports. San Jose State’s Mykell Robinson and Steven Vasquez, as well as Fresno State’s Jalen Weaver were dismissed from their schools and placed on an NCAA ban, the NCAA Committee on Infractions announced.

The discovery of illegal gambling came back in January when a sports integrity monitoring service contacted San Jose State after they had received a message from a Nevada based sportsbook about suspicious betting activity. The best in question were player prop bets. The bets in question were “under” wagers on his player performance prop offering.

Fresno State and NCAA officials investigated Robinson’s phone and found that he conspired with Vasquez, his former roommate at Fresno State, to rig the game and benefit financially. The game in question was played on January 7, 2024, and was against Colorado State. In that game, Robinson finished with 3 points total. The total amount of money netted by the conspiracy was $15,950.

Weaver was found to have communicated with the other two and discussed betting lines in December of 2024. He then wagered on himself and another unnamed player.

Cracking down on game-fixing by athletes is in the best interest of the betting market and the integrity of sports in general. Nobody (except those in on the scam) wants to watch or bet on a game which is fixed beforehand.