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The NCAA and Fresno State are investigating the Bulldogs men’s basketball team due to potential sports gambling activity. The Fresno Bee first reported that the school was conducting an internal investigation, and ESPN later reported the NCAA’s involvement.
The Bulldogs initially suspended two men’s basketball players—Jalen Weaver and Zaon Collins—ahead of their game Saturday against Air Force. A third player, Mykell Robinson, is also being investigated, according to The Fresno Bee. Robinson has not played since Jan. 11 and had already been removed from the team’s roster.
According to ABC30 Fresno sports anchor Alec Nolan, Weaver, and Robinson were allegedly betting on prop bets involving the Bulldogs, including the under on points total and rebounds. Weaver has also already been removed from the team. Collins was allegedly betting on other sports and not Bulldogs games. His status with the team is still unclear.
The three players under investigation were three of the Bulldogs’ top five scorers. Fresno State has a 5–23 record and has lost a program-record 10 games in a row.
In a statement, Fresno State said the two are “being withheld from competition as the university reviews an eligibility matter.” There are no details about the potential involvement of any of the three players, including whether they placed bets themselves or provided information to bettors.
The investigation comes less than a month after the Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors were investigating NBA guard Terry Rozier following unusual betting patterns surrounding one of his games from two years ago when he was still a member of the Hornets. The NBA had already investigated Rozier at the time and did not find him to have any wrongdoing.
The NBA and MLB have each handed out lifetime bans for sports gambling in the last 12 months. Former Raptor Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban in April for what the league described as “disclosing confidential information to sports bettors, limiting his own participation in one or more games, and betting on NBA games.” Former Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano received a lifetime ban last June after it was determined that he placed hundreds of bets on baseball, including on his own team.
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