NCAA Completes First Case in Explosive Sports Betting Scandal

Three Eastern Michigan men’s basketball players committed Level I violations by refusing to cooperate with the investigation into unusual wagering.

The NCAA completed its first case in the growing sports betting scandal. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The NCAA Committee on Infractions announced Friday that three Eastern Michigan men’s basketball players committed Level I violations by refusing to cooperate with an investigation into unusual wagering on Eastern Michigan games during the 2024–25 season.

Jalin Billingsley, Da’Sean Nelson and Jalen Terry were not sanctioned, since they have exhausted their NCAA eligibility. Neither was the school. However, the case is notable in that it is the first of several the association publicized that it was pursuing in relation to the betting scandal that has rippled through basketball at the NBA and college ranks.

On Thursday, the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York announced two indictments in a gambling corruption investigation that led to the arrest of 34 people, including current NBA player Terry Rozier, former NBA player Damon Jones and current NBA coach and Hall of Fame player Chauncey Billups. 

Others charged in connection to that scandal are suspected of attempting to fix college games as well, sources tell Sports Illustrated. A federal investigation of illegal wagering at the college level has been ongoing out of a different jurisdiction, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. That investigation has ramped up in recent weeks, sources say.

In September, the NCAA announced that it was investigating gambling-related infractions cases involving 13 players at six different schools. The players were not named, but their former schools were: Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State.

“While the facts and alleged behaviors in each case vary, they include student-athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, knowingly manipulating scoring or game outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the enforcement staff's investigation,” the NCAA’s release at the time stated.

Eastern Michigan is now the first case that has been completed. Betting monitoring service IC360 issued an alert regarding unusual first-half wagering against the Eagles prior to their Jan. 24 game against Central Michigan, in which EMU fell behind 39–33 at halftime and lost by 19, 82–63. Two previous games came under scrutiny as well, although the NCAA did not identify them in its release Friday.

After originally providing their cellphones for the NCAA to collect data, the Eastern Michigan players refused to further cooperate with the investigation. That led to the sanctions announced Friday.

While former players cannot have their eligibility affected by refusing to cooperate with an investigation, current players are at risk of being banned from competition by stonewalling investigators.

Multiple sources tell SI that the list of players and schools currently under scrutiny for gambling-related potential infractions is more than double the six that were announced last month. The 2025–26 college season begins Nov. 3, with the eligibility of some players potentially in doubt.

Terry and Nelson were the Eagles’ two leading scorers last season at 16.6 and 16.1 points per game, respectively. Billingsley was the fourth-leading scorer at 10.1 ppg. Nelson led Eastern Michigan in rebounding at 5.7, with Billingsley second at 5.1 and Terry third at 4.8.

In the first half of the game against Central Michigan, the three combined for 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and nine turnovers. Billingsley played only 20 minutes, his second-lowest total of the 2024–25 season to that point.

Nelson and Terry came to Eastern Michigan last year from DePaul. Terry spent three seasons with the Blue Demons and Nelson two. Prior to that, Terry was a highly touted freshman at Oregon while Nelson logged two years at junior college. Billingsley spent one season at Georgetown before transferring to Eastern Michigan in 2022.

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