Fifteen former NCAA players charged in US-China basketball rigging case

Former players among those charged in alleged scheme to rig basketball games in US and China.Published On 15 Jan 2026Federal prosecutors in the United States have charged 20 people, including 15 former college basketball players, in what they call a betting scheme to rig National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) games.Of the defendants, 15 played basketball for Division 1 NCAA schools as recently as the 2024-2025 season.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4French double Olympic champion Agnel faces rape trial after appeal rejectedlist 2 of 4Australian Open 2026: All to know about the first tennis Grand Slamlist 3 of 4Morocco and Senegal celebrate advancing to the AFCON final showdownlist 4 of 4Cameroon football president Eto’o suspended for alleged AFCON misbehaviourend of listThe other five defendants were described by authorities as fixers.They include two men who prosecutors said on Thursday worked in the training and development of basketball players. Another was a trainer and former coach, one was a former NCAA player and two were described as gamblers, influencers and sports handicappers.Some individuals were previously charged ⁠in an NBA-related gambling probe.The charges, including bribery in ‍sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, were unsealed ​by federal prosecutors in Philadelphia. They accuse the defendants of conspiring to fix games from about September 2022 through February 2025.During the 2022-2023 CBA season, ‍the individuals ⁠sought to “fix” men’s basketball games by “point shaving”, prosecutors alleged in the documents filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Point shaving is a form of cheating in which individuals try ​to manipulate the margin of victory.Some ‌of those charged allegedly sought to target games at Nicholls State University, Tulane University, Northwestern State University, La Salle University, DePaul ‌University, Robert Morris University, University of Southern Mississippi and North Carolina A&T ‌State University.