Two Former Players Strike Plea Deals in College Basketball Game-Fixing Scandal

Two former college basketball players have already reached plea agreements for allegedly rigging their own performances, according to federal court records.

Former Fordham and Temple forward Elijah Gray pleaded guilty to one count of bribery in sporting contests. Gray was alleged to have fixed games while he played at Fordham in 2024. Gray entered his plea on Dec. 23. His sentencing is tentatively scheduled for March 18.

Former UCLA, DePaul and La Salle forward Micawber “Mac” Etienne reached a plea agreement on Dec. 8. That agreement remains under seal. Etienne is alleged to have fixed games when he played for DePaul in 2024. He has a hearing scheduled for Feb. 18.

Two other former players who have been charged, Diante Smith and Isaiah Adams, have plea hearings scheduled for next month.

Those pleas, along with the timing of various filings, provide some clues about how prosecutors have built their case. In the related but separate case of fixing NBA performances, several co-defendants, including former Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter, reached plea deals. Sentencing for those defendants continues to get pushed back. It is common, and widely expected in the NBA case, for defendants to reach plea agreements with an expectation they will testify against co-conspirators. Sentencing is generally delayed until after the testimony.

Besides Gray and Etienne, three other people who allegedly conspired to fix college basketball games were charged well before U.S. attorneys in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced the indictments Thursday, according to federal court records. A fourth was charged this week.

Antonio Blakeney

Former NBA player Antonio Blakeney was charged with one count to commit wire fraud on Oct. 17, 2024. That indictment details his alleged agreement to rig his own performance in Chinese Basketball Association games in concert with Shane Hennen, Marves Fairley and Jalen Smith. Hennen and Fairley are not named in the 2024 indictment, but the description of “Person A,” “Person B” and “Person C” matches prosecutors’ descriptions of Fairley, Hennen and Smith, respectively, in the most recent indictments.

Blakeney’s 2024 indictment also describes “Person D” as somebody who recruited players for the scheme and paid them to fix games. It is not clear if Person D is alleged co-conspirator Roderick Winkler, alleged co-conspirator Alberto Laureano or somebody else.

Diante Smith

On Dec. 1, prosecutors filed the same two charges against Smith that they filed against Gray and Etienne: bribery in sporting contests, and aiding and abetting. Smith is alleged to have rigged his own performance when he played for Nicholls State in 2024. He also played for Texas Christian, South Alabama and Texas-Arlington.

Smith had a plea hearing scheduled for Jan. 7, but it was postponed. He now has an “arraignment/guilty plea hearing” scheduled for Feb. 25.

Isaiah Adams

On Dec. 11, Adams was charged with bribery in sporting contests, and aiding and abetting, for allegedly rigging his own performance when he played for Buffalo from 2022 to ’24. Adams also played for Central Florida and Toledo.

Adams has an arraignment and plea hearing scheduled for Feb. 18.

Corey “CJ” Hines

On Wednesday, Hines was charged with bribery in sporting contests, and aiding and abetting, for allegedly rigging his own performance when he played for North Alabama from 2023 to ’25. Hines’s indictment describes three of his North Alabama teammates as allegedly being involved.

Hines and Adams are alleged to have fixed games for different schools, but with one common teammate: Shawn Fulcher, who played with Adams at Buffalo before transferring to North Alabama, where he played with Hines.

Fulcher was charged in a separate case Thursday.

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