Ohio University was identified as a school affected by a federal indictment against 20 people, including 15 former NCAA Division I men’s basketball players, over alleged game fixing. The prosecutors claim the people indicted created a betting scheme to fix games in the NCAA and the Chinese Basketball Association in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
The 15 basketball players indicted played as recently as the 2024-25 season, while prosecutors claim the other five men indicted were described by authorities as fixers.
Investigators identified several Mid-American Conference teams as being affected. Western Michigan University, Buffalo and Kent State were affected alongside OU, according to the indictment. No people working for OU or players on Ohio teams were identified in the current indictment.
According to the indictment, the betting scheme started in September 2022, later evolving to include college basketball players. The players were paid anywhere from $10,000-$30,000 to intentionally compromise games for sports betting purposes.
The indictment follows increased investigations into illegal sports betting and game fixing from the NCAA. In the past several months, the NCAA has given 10 players lifetime bans for bets that sometimes involved their own teams and performances. The NCAA has said that at least 30 players have been investigated over gambling allegations.
This is a developing story and may be updated as additional information becomes available.
