HBCU Sports Scandal: Former Alabama State Players Ruled Ineligible by NCAA for Game-Fixing

HOUSTON -- Another HBCU sports betting scandal, and it may not be the last. On Friday, June 5, the NCAA ruled that a coach’s son and tournament heroes allegedly committed in-game manipulation violations in December 2024. We’re talking about the guard whose buzzer-beating layup gave Alabama State its first NCAA Tournament victory. Three months earlier, he and three teammates agreed to throw a game for a total of $2,000.

The NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions negotiated a resolution that ruled four Alabama State Hornets basketball players from the 2024-25 team, Amarr Knox, Shawn Fulcher, Corey Hines, and Tony Madlock, were permanently ineligible for throwing the game against Southern Mississippi for sports-betting money from a bettor. The whole scheme began in a group chat.

The four players are no longer in Alabama State’s basketball program and are not competing in NCAA sports, according to the resolution and an NCAA statement. TJ Madlock, the son of then-Hornets head coach Tony Madlock, is playing in Germany for the HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim team, averaging 8 points per game. His father is now an associate head coach at Memphis under head coach Penny Hardaway. The elder is not a party to the case and is not accused of any wrongdoing.

Knox is the only one who cooperated with the NCAA, accepting the terms of the violation. Fulcher, Hines, and Madlock did not take part in the case and were treated as defaulting parties, which, under NCAA rules, means their non-participation constitutes acceptance of the agreement’s terms.

The players were the cornerstone for the Hornets’ 2025 SWAC Basketball Tournament Championship campaign and First-Four NCAA tournament 70-68 victory against St. Francis before falling to Auburn in the opening round, 83-63.

Alabama State Rallies in 2nd Half and Defeats Alabama A&M in Thriller | Credit: ASU Athletics

How the Scheme Worked

According to the NCAA, the scheme came together in a day. On Dec. 4, 2024, Fulcher added teammates to a group chat with a person the resolution identifies only as Known Bettor 1. That person offered money for Alabama State to lose its game at Southern Mississippi the next night. The morning of the game, Fulcher, Hines, Madlock, and others joined a FaceTime call with the bettor. Madlock told him he was injured and would not play. The group agreed with Known Bettor 1 to throw the game.

The players were paid $2,000 in total by a second person; the resolution calls this person Known Bettor 2. Fulcher and Madlock each received $700. Why? Fulcher received that amount because the bettors were his contacts and he had communicated with them.

In Madlock’s case, he received that amount because he had told the bettors he would sit out the contest. Hines and Knox each received $300. When Fulcher and Knox tried to reach Known Bettor 1 about the money after the game, he did not answer.

On Dec. 2, 2024, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Alabama State led at halftime before Southern Mississippi pulled away for an 81-64 victory covering the betting spread. The resolution describes the conduct as point shaving: the players agreed to lose, or try to lose, by more than the number sportsbooks had set. Each player’s ethical conduct violation is a Level I offense, which the NCAA considers the most serious classification.

False Statements

Two of the players made their cases worse by misleading the enforcement staff. Fulcher, in an Oct. 24, 2025, interview, denied joining the call, denying sharing betting information and betting on sports; the record showed he had done all three, including wagering through a daily fantasy site.

Hines refused an interview, then reversed course in January, then denied involvement before cutting off contact when the staff asked for his text records.

Both failures to cooperate are Level I. Madlock declined to be interviewed at all.

The Federal Make Charges in the Case

A criminal track runs alongside the NCAA’s. On Jan. 14, 2026, Fulcher and Hines were indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on charges including bribery in sports-wagering contests, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud tied to the Southern Mississippi game. Both bettors were indicted on the same day.

The charges are part of a wider U.S. Justice Department case announced in January that named more than two dozen people in what prosecutors described as an international scheme to fix NCAA Division I men’s basketball games. U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said the conspiracy “poisoned the American spirit of competition for monetary gain.”

How the Scandal Happened

On the record, the motive was money, and not much of it. The largest payout was $700, the smallest $300, for a road game most fans would never have noticed. The resolution traces the opening to one player: Fulcher’s contacts were the bettors, and he was the one who brought teammates into the chat. A low-stakes nonconference game did the rest.

Currently, the NCAA sits at the center of a broader integrity problem plaguing basketball and football. Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby allegedly placed up to 40 bets on his then-football team, Indiana. He’s petitioning the NCAA to return to college football, saying that his betting is a result of a clinical gambling and anxiety disorder.

With the proliferation of sports betting apps and the ads that air during professional and major college sports events, how can governing bodies maintain control over in-game betting? Even the NFL has been hit with sports-betting cases over the past several years.

Now, the spread of legalized sports betting has attached a market price to the outcome of even minor games, and the federal investigation has reached more than a dozen programs, several of them low-major and HBCU teams, including North Carolina A&T and Coppin State. Lower-profile games, prosecutors have said, are easier to move because a small number of players can swing them.

What does it mean for Alabama State?

Fortunately for Alabama State, the NCAA has not reported fining the institution for the players’ infractions. Because student-athletes committed the violations rather than staff, the school’s portion is processed as Level III, the least serious tier, and the panel imposed no penalty on the program.

The Committee on Infractions does not penalize student-athletes directly. However, players found in violation are ineligible and can be reinstated only with a school’s help. In a statement, Alabama State said its athletics program “and its personnel remain committed to integrity and compliance and will continue to operate with transparency.”

The panel that approved the agreement consisted of Norman Bay, Susan Lipnickey, and Steve Waterfield, the chief hearing officer. The resolution carries no precedential value.

Madlock is in Europe; Knox transferred to Eastern Kentucky; Hines went to Temple; and Fulcher to New Mexico Highlands. Since all players received a permanent ineligibility ruling from the NCAA, they may never participate in collegiate basketball.

Finally, it may not be a death sentence for Alabama State, but it should be a wake-up call for HBCU programs across the country. The temptation is real. Sports betting is dominating. Protecting our student-athletes - daunting.

FAQs on the Alabama State Four

Which Alabama State players were ruled permanently ineligible?

Amarr Knox, Shawn Fulcher, Corey Hines, and Tony Madlock are all former Alabama State Hornets men’s basketball players and stars for former head coach Tony Madlock.

Is Alabama State head coach Tony Madlock involved?

No. The “Tony Madlock” named in the case is the player known publicly as TJ Madlock, the coach’s son. The head coach, now at Memphis, is not a party to the case and is not accused of wrongdoing.

Which game was fixed?

Alabama State’s Dec. 5, 2024, road game at Southern Mississippi, an 81-64 loss in which Southern Mississippi covered the spread.

How much were the players paid?

$2,000 in total — $700 each to Fulcher and Madlock, $300 each to Hines and Knox, paid by a second bettor.

Is Alabama State being penalized?

No major penalty. The institution’s portion is classified Level III, and the Committee on Infractions imposed no program sanction.

Are any of the players facing criminal charges?

Fulcher and Hines were indicted Jan. 14, 2026, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy.

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