In a summer rife with scandal across the sports betting ecosystem, the NCAA permanently revoked the eligibility of three student-athletes on Wednesday after an investigation into match manipulation in college basketball games.
The probe covered at least five Mountain West Conference games during the 2024-25 season in which the players either bet on their own games, bet on one another’s games or provided information that enabled the others to do so, according to the NCAA Committee on Infractions. The three players, Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver, were released from their respective teams and are no longer enrolled at the schools involved, the NCAA said.
Robinson and Weaver were teammates at Fresno State last season, while Vasquez, a former guard for Fresno State, played last year for San Jose State. The three cases were resolved via negotiated resolution in coordination with the student-athletes’ schools, per infractions process operating procedures, the NCAA wrote in a statement.
NCAA uncovers texts between ex-roommates
Robinson and Vasquez were roommates together at Fresno State during the 2023-24 season. Vasquez, who transferred to San Jose State prior to the 2024-25 season, allegedly communicated with Robinson via text prior to Fresno State’s 91-64 loss to Colorado State on 7 January 2025.
According to the committee, Vasquez conspired with his former roommate to place bets on Robinson’s under totals on points scored, rebounds, assists and three-pointers made during the game, for purposes of financial gain.
Before the game, Robinson’s mother transferred funds to Vasquez, via Apple Pay, to allow the Spartans guard to coordinate a $200 bet on Robinson’s behalf. Robinson finished with three points and two rebounds in the defeat. Following the game, Vasquez transferred a total of $1,625 to Robinson through his mother, according to the committee. The amount included $1,425 won from a $200 bet placed on Robinson’s behalf and an additional $200 from Vasquez’s own winnings.
In February, Vasquez’s counsel advised NCAA enforcement staff that the San Jose State guard would not participate in the investigation. San Jose State subsequently released Vasquez from the men’s basketball programme. On 5 August, Vasquez advised the enforcement staff that he would not participate in the processing of the case.
NCAA: Weaver bet on himself
Robinson, according to the investigation, also placed multiple wagers on Weaver before a game in late December 2024. Prior to the game, the Bulldog players exchanged information about their respective betting lines.
Furthermore, on 31 December 2024, Weaver placed a $50, three-leg parlay on himself, Robinson and a player from a different college, the investigation found.
The parlay featured the over for Weaver’s assists, the over on Robinson’s three-pointers made and the other player’s total points scored. A senior guard at Fresno State, Weaver notched two assists in the 103-89 loss to New Mexico. Weaver won the bet, collecting a payout of $260.
In a February interview with ESPN’s David Purdum, Weaver admitted to betting on himself. “I just made a bad decision, and I shouldn’t have gotten involved with that,” he said. “I bet on a game I played in, but I never tried to sabotage the season. I never bet on us to lose, never bet my unders.”
East Coast college basketball probe
The investigation is unrelated to a reported college basketball betting probe by federal law enforcement in Pennsylvania. Last month, iGB reported that the Eastern District of Pennsylvania had broadened its investigation into potential point shaving in college basketball.
One source, on a condition of anonymity, told iGB that the investigation appears to be focused on several schools in the Southern region of the nation. While SI.com reported that the probe could lead to several indictments, none have been issued thus far.
The investigation into possible point shaving infractions could be one of the largest since the 2018 PASPA ruling opening the door to widespread legal sports betting, the source noted.
Two former Fresno State players and their ex-teammate who played last year for San Jose State have been banned for sports betting infractions.