TLDR

• Jalen Smith pleaded guilty to recruiting college players to shave points, paying them $10,000–$30,000 per game
• The scheme covered 39+ players across 17 NCAA teams and affected over 29 games between 2022 and 2025
• Fixers targeted low-NIL players and often focused on first-half spreads to avoid affecting final scores
• The operation started in the Chinese Basketball Association before moving to NCAA basketball
• Five co-conspirators have been named, with links to a separate NBA illegal gambling investigation

Jalen Smith pleaded guilty in federal court on March 9 to his role as a fixer in one of the largest point-shaving schemes in college basketball history. He admitted to paying players to deliberately underperform so their teams would fail to cover the betting spread.

Players were paid between $10,000 and $30,000 per game in cash. Smith and his co-conspirators then placed large bets against those teams through sportsbooks and intermediaries.

The scheme ran from at least September 2022 through February 2025. It involved more than 39 players across at least 17 NCAA teams and affected over 29 games.

Smith faces up to 20 years in prison on wire fraud charges. The bribery in sporting contests charge carries a maximum of five years.

The operation originally started in the Chinese Basketball Association, where members of the group first arranged point shaving before expanding to NCAA men’s basketball.

How Fixers Chose Their Targets

Smith and his team did not approach star players. They specifically targeted athletes with little or no NIL income — players at mid-major programs who were not earning sponsorship deals.

NIL compensation was legalized in 2021, allowing college athletes to earn money from their name, image, and likeness. But most Division I players still earn very little or nothing at all.

For those players, a cash payment of $15,000 or more was a strong incentive. Prosecutors say players were also paid for sharing information about the health and playing status of their teammates.

Smith stayed in close contact with recruited players during games. In one documented case, he texted a player at halftime of a tight game, telling him the score needed to “be a blowout” and that the player was costing him money.

When bets paid off, Smith traveled to college campuses to hand over cash in person.

When the Scheme Failed

The scheme did not always work. In one game between Buffalo and Kent State, fixers placed at least $424,000 in bets but lost most of it after missing the spread by half a point.

Kent State needed to win the first half by more than 8.5 points but only won it by 8. Three players involved in the scheme scored just one point combined in the final 13 minutes of that half, missing layups and dunks.

Fixers frequently targeted first-half spreads. This let them influence only part of a game without affecting the final result.

Co-Conspirators and NBA Links

Smith did not act alone. Five co-conspirators have been named. Marves Fairley and Shane Hennen allegedly started the original CBA scheme. Former NBA player Antonio Blakeney accepted bribes, recruited teammates, and later approached NCAA players. His two seasons with the Chicago Bulls gave him credibility with college players.

Fairley left a package containing at least $200,000 in cash in Blakeney’s Florida storage unit at the end of the CBA season.

Fairley and Hennen are also connected to a separate October 2025 investigation involving 30 arrests linked to an illegal poker ring and alleged illegal gambling tied to NBA games.

That investigation includes claims that someone sold information about Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier exiting a game early in 2023 so bettors could win prop bets. Rozier denies the allegations.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and former player Damon Jones are also alleged to have participated in rigged poker games. Jones is accused of selling insider information about injuries and lineups to bettors, including Fairley.

The FBI uncovered the NCAA scheme after millions of dollars moved through sportsbooks over more than two years without triggering integrity alerts. NCAA President Charlie Baker has since called on state regulators to ban certain betting markets, including first-half spreads and individual player prop bets.