Federal prosecutors said an alleged point-shaving scheme involved more than 39 college basketball players on at least 17 NCAA Division I teams. The alleged scheme ran from September 2022 to February 2025, with many of the defendants having played in the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 seasons. “Four of the players charged — Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Camian Shell and Oumar Koureissi — have played for their current teams in the past week,” ESPN stated. “The sportsbooks would not have paid out those wagers had they known that the defendants fixed those games,” the indictment said, according to ABC News. Twenty men, including many former college basketball players, have been charged in a point-shaving scheme that involved more than 29 games being fixed, according to a federal indictment. https://t.co/1VNjCILnyv — ESPN (@espn) January 15, 2026 ESPN has more: The allegations against Hart, Shell and Koureissi stem from their previous schools, while Cottle’s alleged incident occurred in the 2023-24 season. None of the allegations against them were from this season. Eastern Michigan said in a statement that Hart has been suspended from all team activities pending the outcome of the case. Cottle, the Conference USA preseason player of the year for Kennesaw State, is averaging a team-high 20.2 points per game this season. He scored 21 points, including five of the final eight points of the game, in the Owls’ win over Florida International on Wednesday. Authorities described five defendants as “fixers,” who recruited players to participate in the scheme and offered bribes ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 to intentionally underperform. The bettors then placed and won millions of dollars in wagers on the fixed games, according to prosecutors. At least two of the defendants, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, were also charged in a federal indictment in the Eastern District of New York centered on gambling schemes in the NBA. Three of the other alleged fixers had connections in college basketball. The defendants are charged with bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The alleged fixers are also charged with additional counts of wire fraud. The bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. The fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years. “In placing these wagers on games they had fixed, the defendants defrauded sportsbooks, as well as individual sports bettors, who were all unaware that the defendants had corruptly manipulated the outcome of these games that should have been decided fairly, based on genuine competition and the best efforts of the players,” the indictment said, ABC News noted. ESPN shared the schools named in the indictment: Abilene Christian Alabama State Buffalo Coppin State DePaul Eastern Michigan Fordham Kennesaw State La Salle New Orleans Nicholls State North Carolina A&T Northwestern State Robert Morris Saint Louis Southern Miss Tulane “Former college All-American Antonio Blakeney is among 17 basketball players charged in a point-shaving scheme to fix games in the NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association and rig bets, according to a newly unsealed indictment,” ABC News wrote. BREAKING: Former college All-American Antonio Blakeney is among 17 basketball players charged in a point-shaving scheme to fix games in the NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association and rig bets, according to a newly unsealed indictment. https://t.co/hiLUypOPgi pic.twitter.com/CyYbb1e3o6 — ABC News (@ABC) January 15, 2026 ABC News shared further: Two other defendants, Marves Fairley and Shane Hennen, allegedly recruited Blakeney, an All-American college player and a leading scorer in the CBA, offering bribe payments in exchange for Blakeney underperforming in games. Blakeney also allegedly recruited other players from his team to join the scheme. Fairley and Hennen are also charged in a separate illegal gambling case involving the NBA. After profiting on the fixed CBA games, Fairley, Hennen and Blakeney allegedly turned their attention to fixing NCAA men’s basketball games. Blakeney is named but not charged. Federal prosecutors noted some of the defendants are “charged elsewhere.” They are accused of recruiting players who would help ensure their team failed to cover the spread of the first half of a game or an entire game, the indictment said. The fixers would then place wagers on those games through sportsbooks, betting against the team whose player or players they had bribed to engage in this point-shaving scheme, the indictment said. Watch the press conference announcing the indictment below: