The NCAA Committee on Infractions released three separate infractions decisions after NCAA enforcement investigations uncovered violations by six student-athletes who competed in men's basketball at New Orleans, Mississippi Valley and Arizona State. While the cases at each school are not directly related, the violations for each case involved betting-related game manipulation and/or student-athletes providing information to known bettors. Additionally, all three cases involved lack of cooperation by student-athletes, who knowingly provided false or misleading information to investigators. As a result of the sports betting violations, the student-athletes all violated ethical conduct rules, triggering permanent ineligibility.
The individuals — Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short, Jamond Vincent, Donovan Sanders, Alvin Stredic and Chatton "BJ" Freeman — are no longer enrolled at their previous schools.
Hunter, Short and Vincent (New Orleans)
The violations at New Orleans came to light in February 2025, after the NCAA enforcement staff contacted New Orleans, which reported also receiving a tip about potential game manipulation by men's basketball student-athletes. Specifically, a student-athlete reported overhearing Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent discussing a third party placing a bet for them on their Dec. 28, 2024, game. That same student-athlete reported that during a timeout near the end of the game, Short instructed him not to score any more points. New Orleans suspended all three student-athletes for the remainder of the season while it investigated the allegations.
The enforcement staff began its collaborative investigation with the school and imaged the three student-athletes' phones. Text messages on Vincent's phone indicated that he texted three third parties with instructions to bet on that Dec. 28 game because he and his teammates planned to "throw the game." Text messages recovered from Short's phone included an exchange between Short and Hunter, in which they discussed receiving $5,000. Short and Hunter participated in FaceTime calls on the same day with a known bettor who told them to "lay it down" for the next game.
In total, the enforcement staff's investigation demonstrated that Hunter, Short and Vincent manipulated their performances for the purpose of financially benefiting themselves and others in seven games from December through January. In all seven games, Hunter, Short and Vincent lost or attempted to lose by more points than the betting spread identified by sportsbook operators, in a conspiracy with outside bettors.
In addition to violating ethical conduct rules by engaging in game manipulation for sports betting purposes, the student-athletes also failed to meet their responsibility to cooperate when they provided false or misleading information during the investigation. Vincent acknowledged the conversations about throwing the game but denied following through with the plan, and Short and Hunter denied knowledge of and involvement in the plan.
Sanders and Stredic (Mississippi Valley)
After public reporting in February 2025 about an NBA gambling ring that was potentially tied to college basketball (including Mississippi Valley), the NCAA enforcement staff contacted an integrity monitoring service to review Mississippi Valley games for suspicious activity. The integrity monitor indicated that betting trends for the school's Jan. 6 game were suspicious, and the NCAA enforcement staff then contacted Mississippi Valley to begin an investigation.
During an interview with the enforcement staff, a men's basketball student-athlete said that before the team's Dec. 21, 2024, game, he overhead Donovan Sanders on the phone with an unknown third party talking about "throwing the game." Sanders asked the student-athlete to participate in the call because the third party had told Sanders the individual intended to bet on the game and wanted to know that another of Sanders' teammates would participate in the scheme. The student-athlete denied altering his performance or receiving money from Sanders or any other individuals. Sanders texted the same student-athlete after that game and told him to delete their messages.
During a second interview with the enforcement staff, Sanders could not explain the student-athlete's account of the events or the text messages. He did say, however, that he and Alvin Stredic were offered money to throw the team's Jan. 6 game by another anonymous caller, who instructed them to perform poorly in the first half.
The enforcement staff demonstrated that Sanders knowingly provided information to a third party for the purposes of sports betting for two games and Stredic did the same for one game.
Finally, both student-athletes failed to cooperate with the investigation when they provided false or misleading information to investigators and did not provide requested records during the investigation.
Freeman (Arizona State)
The violations involving Chatton "BJ" Freeman, then competing at Arizona State, were uncovered when the enforcement staff reviewed text messages for a separate infractions case involving Mykell Robinson, a then-student-athlete at Fresno State. Records on Robinson's phone indicated that on four separate occasions between November and December 2024, Freeman knowingly provided information to Robinson, who was betting on Freeman through daily fantasy sports accounts. Freeman also knowingly provided information on at least two occasions to his then-girlfriend, who was also betting on Freeman.
When interviewed by enforcement staff, Freeman knowingly provided false or misleading information when he denied sharing information with Robinson and his then-girlfriend. He also denied having a daily fantasy sports account — which was under his name and email address — into which he had made deposits while competing at a previous school.
After the 2024-25 season, Freeman had one season of athletics eligibility remaining.
Infractions case processing
The three cases involving the six student-athletes were resolved via negotiated resolution in coordination with the student-athletes' schools, per infractions process operating procedures. Hunter and Sanders declined to participate in their respective cases. Short, Vincent and Stredic were unresponsive to enforcement staff as their respective cases were processed. Freeman participated in a negotiated resolution and agreed to his violations.
The Committee on Infractions does not currently assess penalties for student-athletes who violated NCAA rules but did approve the findings, confirming that the violations occurred. Student-athletes who are found to have violated NCAA rules are ineligible and can only be reinstated with the assistance of an NCAA school. In 2023, Division I members changed the guidelines for student-athlete reinstatement for sports betting violations. Generally speaking, the starting point for student-athletes who bet on their own games or share information for betting purposes is a permanent loss of eligibility.
Members of the Committee on Infractions are drawn from the NCAA membership and public.
The panel members who reviewed the Arizona State case are Tricia Turley Brandenburg, deputy athletics director, chief leadership officer and senior woman administrator at Army West Point; Susan Lipnickey, senior associate athletics director for compliance and student-athlete resources and senior woman administrator at Xavier and chief hearing officer for the panel; and Christian Spears, former athletics director at Marshall.
The panel members who reviewed the New Orleans and Mississippi Valley State cases are Jody Conradt, former women's basketball head coach and special assistant to the women's athletics director at Texas; Jason Leonard, executive director of athletics compliance at Oklahoma and chief hearing officer for the panel (New Orleans decision); and Steven Waterfield, director of athletics at Oakland and chief hearing officer for the panel (Mississippi Valley decision).
