By Stephen J. Gaither
A gambling ring that is involved in multiple NBA sports betting cases bet against HBCUs North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State in what is being called ‘unusual activity,’ according to an ESPN report. Sportsbook accounts bet on games including the two HBCU programs as well as Eastern Michigan this season.
Officials at North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State did not respond to ESPN’s requests for comment regarding the betting case. North Carolina A&T recently announced the suspensions of three players for a violation of team rules, including its leading scorer.
North Carolina A&T athletic director Earl Hilton told ESPN in an email that the recent suspension of three basketball players was for a violation “of well-established team rules” but declined further comment, citing privacy laws.
“The NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition,” the NCAA said in a statement to ESPN and other media outlets. “The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever suspicious reports are received. Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current or potential investigations.” The CAA HBCU basketball program’s January 9th game against CAA opponent Delaware was one game that multiple Sportsbook sources pointed out. The point spread on the first half moved from Delaware -2 to -3.5. The point spread on the full game closed at -4.5. First-half lines typically are equal to or around 50 percent of the full-game point spread. NC A&T lost the game 98-88.
No other HBCUs were mentioned in the ESPN sports betting report.