Current, former Kennesaw State players charged in NCAA basketball point shaving investigation

Kennesaw State guard Simeon Cottle goes in for a short as Xavier's Souley Boum (0) defends during the first half of a first-round college basketball game in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, March 17, 2023, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An investigation into a sprawling betting scheme to rig NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games has ensnared 26 people, including more than a dozen college basketball players who tried to fix games as recently as last season, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

A current and former Kennesaw State University basketball player, and an Atlanta native who played at another school, are among the 26 facing charges.

The scheme generally revolved around gamblers who placed bets and recruited players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said. Those fixers would then bet against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said.