Sources: Gambling ring also tied to college hoops

A gambling ring currently under federal investigation for its role in two NBA betting cases also was involved in unusual wagering activity on at least three men’s college basketball programs this season, sources told ESPN on Monday.

Sportsbook accounts connected to the gambling ring bet against North Carolina A&T, Mississippi Valley State and Eastern Michigan in games this season, sources said.

Some of the same accounts also placed large wagers on prop bets involving former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter in two games during the 2023-24 NBA season and veteran guard Terry Rozier in 2023, when he was with the Charlotte Hornets, sources said. Porter has admitted to manipulating his performance during the games for gambling purposes; Rozier has declined to comment on a reported investigation into unusual betting on his performance in a select game.

The sportsbook accounts linked to the gambling ring also wagered on a Temple game flagged for suspicious betting last March. Sources familiar with the ongoing investigations said the ring targeted additional college basketball programs over the past two seasons.

Officials at North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State did not respond to requests for comment regarding the betting case. North Carolina A&T athletic director Earl Hilton did tell ESPN in an email that the recent suspension of three basketball players was for a violation “of well-established team rules” but declined further comment, citing privacy laws.

Eastern Michigan officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition,” the NCAA said in a statement to ESPN and other media outlets. “The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever suspicious reports are received. Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current or potential investigations.”

Betting integrity monitors have flagged two games this season involving Eastern Michigan (Dec. 21 vs. Wright State and Jan. 16 vs. Central Michigan). In both instances, sportsbooks noticed suspicious betting activity against Eastern Michigan the first half, according to alerts sent out by Integrity Compliance 360 (IC360), a firm that monitors the betting market for irregularities.

Veteran bookmakers and professional bettors have been tracking unusual betting activity on college basketball games dating to last season, gambling industry sources told ESPN.

Sportsbook sources in the U.S. and offshore pointed to suspicious betting on the first half of a Jan. 9 game involving North Carolina A&T and Delaware. The point spread on the first half moved from Delaware -2 to -3.5. The point spread on the full game closed at -4.5. First-half lines typically are equal to or around 50% of the full-game point spread.

Five men — Ammar Awawdeh, Long Phi Pham, Timothy McCormack, Mahmud Mollah and Shane Hennen — have been charged with conspiring with Porter, a fringe NBA player with a gambling debt, to manipulate his performance so the group could profit from prop bets on his statistics in two games during the 2023-2024 season. Porter removed himself from both games after playing only a few minutes.

Porter, Pham, McCormack and Mollah have pleaded guilty in the case. Awawdeh and Hennen are in plea negotiations with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, according to court documents.

Federal authorities also are reportedly scrutinizing a 2023 game involving the Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans, which drew unusual betting interest on Rozier. He played only nine minutes before removing himself from the game, citing a foot injury, and did not play the rest of the season.

The NBA said it investigated the matter and cleared Rozier, who has not been accused of wrongdoing or criminally charged. The NBA is cooperating with investigators from the Eastern District of New York, according to a statement from the league.