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3 hours ago
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Jalen Weaver admitted to something that could permanently cost him his NCAA eligibility. (Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports)
More clarity has arrived in the case of a trio of Fresno State basketball players sidelined amid a reported investigation into gambling activity. It's not looking great for them.
Mykell Robinson and Jalen Weaver, who are no longer with the program, made bets and entered daily fantasy contests involving Fresno State games in which they played, according to ESPN. A third player, Zaon Collins, has also been held out of games since last Tuesday but remains listed on the program's roster.
The wagers reportedly included unders on Robinson's point and rebounds totals, while Weaver admitted to ESPN that he he played a daily fantasy contest on his points total in a game against New Mexico on Dec. 31. Weaver reportedly admitted to risking $50 that he would score more than 11 points on the fantasy site Sleeper.
He scored 13 points in a 103-89 loss to cash the bet, and says he now regrets doing so:
"I just made a bad decision, and I shouldn't even have gotten involved with that. Now, I'm obviously paying for it," he said. "I bet on a game I played in, but I never tried to sabotage the season. I never bet on us to lose, never bet my unders."
Robinson was removed from the roster in January, while Weaver has been dismissed from the team and plans to enter the transfer portal at the end of the season. Together, Robinson, Weaver and Collins represented three of the Bulldogs' top five scorers, with each averaging double-digit points per game.
In Robinson's case, it appears someone broke the Jontay Porter Rule. Individual player props for non-stars are rare, and even a moderate increase in betting activity will set off alarm bells at sportsbooks, like when Porter, then a deep bench player for the Toronto Raptors, had thousands of dollars in bets placed on his personal unders. He received a lifetime ban from the NBA for doing so. It is perhaps the easiest way to catch illegal sports gambling schemes these days.
ESPN reports at least one major U.S. sportsbook received increased betting interest on Robinson's props in games this season. Fresno State and the NCAA are still investigating the gambling allegations.
NCAA athletes are forbidden from sports betting and can face a permanent loss of eligibility if found to have manipulated games, shared information with bettors or bet on their games, which might make Weaver's transfer portal experience tricky given that he has outright admitted to doing the latter.
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