Four NC men among 26 charged in college basketball gambling scheme
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- Federal indictment charges 20 in scheme that manipulated Division I games.
- Investigators allege 39 players shaved points across more than 29 games.
- Co-conspirators paid players $10,000–$30,000 per game and coordinated bets.
A wide-ranging sports gambling conspiracy to rig college basketball results led to 26 men, including four with North Carolina ties, being charged with federal crimes, according to documents unsealed in a Pennsylvania federal court on Thursday.
Camian Shell of Winston-Salem, who plays at Delaware State this season after beginning his career at N.C. A&T in Greensboro, Dyquavion “Jah” Short of Greenville, a former University of New Orleans player, Elijah Gray of Charlotte, a former Fordham player, and basketball coach and trainer Jalen Smith of Charlotte, are among the defendants in the case.
Shell is one of four active college basketball players charged, joining Simeon Cottle of Kennesaw State, Carlos Hart of Eastern Michigan and Oumar Koureissi of Texas Southern.
Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Eastern Pennsylvania claim 39 players from more than 17 teams shaved points in more than 29 Division I games as part of the scheme, which ran from September 2022 until February 2025. It began with players impacting Chinese Basketball Association games before spreading to college basketball during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons. None of the fixed games occurred this season, prosecutors said.
“This was a massive scheme that enveloped the world of college basketball,” U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said during a Thursday news conference in Philadelphia. “This was a significant and rampant corruption of college athletics.”
How the gambling scheme worked, according to court documents
The 30-year-old Smith, according to court documents, is among six men charged with approaching college players to recruit them to fix games. Players were offered $10,000 to $30,000 per game in bribe payments. Smith is accused of traveling to make payments to the players after bets placed were successful.
Smith is charged with bribery in sporting contests, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
In addition to N.C. A&T, New Orleans and Kennesaw State, other teams with players involved are DePaul, Nicholls State, Tulane, La Salle, Fordham, Northwestern State, Saint Louis, Buffalo, Robert Morris, Southern Mississippi, Coppin State, Abilene Christian and Alabama State.
Court documents show Smith and the other co-conspirators recruited Shell to help fix games in February 2024 when Shell played for N.C. A&T. The gamblers bet $458,000 on Towson State to cover the first half point spread and win the first half money line in a Feb. 29, 2024, game against N.C. A&T in Greensboro.
According to text messages, Smith told Shell to make sure Towson led by a comfortable margin at halftime.
“10 or more points bro[,] we should[n’]t need sweating (expletive),” Smith said to Shell, according to the indictment.
Smith also instructed Shell to recruit other NC A&T players, if needed, saying they would get paid, too. An unindicted, unnamed co-conspirator, identified as another NC A&T player, also allegedly participated.
Towson led 42-21 at halftime, allowing the gamblers to win their bets. N.C. A&T outscored Towson by five points in the second half, with Towson winning by an 84-58 final score. Shell started the game at guard, scoring 10 points while hitting 4 of 10 shots. In the first half, he scored three points over the first 18 minutes of play, adding a basket with 1:11 left in the half when Towson led by 20 points.
Smith and Shell texted the rest of that day and into the following day, arranging to meet in Greensboro to exchange the bribe payment.
Shell transferred from N.C. A&T to Delaware State last summer. He’s appeared in six games this season for Delaware State, including last Saturday when he started and scored 11 points in a 66-64 loss to Norfolk State. Shell did not play on Monday night when Howard beat Delaware State, 84-58.
Shell is charged with bribery in a sporting contest and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Point shaving against East Carolina
Short, a guard with New Orleans, was approached to join the scheme in December 2024 along with teammate Cedquavious Hunter. They are charged with fixing three games: Dec. 28, 2024 against McNeese State, Dec. 30, 2024 against Vanderbilt and Jan. 11 against Southeastern Louisiana. In all three games, New Orleans failed to cover the point spread and the gamblers won by betting against New Orleans.
Two other New Orleans players, unnamed in the court documents and not charged with crimes or with participating, were also approached by the fixers about joining the scheme.
Hunter and Short are charged with bribery in a sporting contest and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Another game alleged to be impacted by the scandal involved East Carolina. The Pirates played Tulane on Feb. 18 2024, at Minges Coliseum in Greenville. The fixers bet $140,000 on ECU to cover the 2.5-point spread. Kevin Cross, a Tulane player at the time, is charged with helping shave points in the contest. Cross scored six points as East Carolina won, 81-67. Cross, who was paid a $30,000 bribe, is charged with bribery in a sporting contest and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Elijah Gray allegedly texted ‘I tried’ in lost bet
Gray, who played at Charlotte’s Ardrey Kell High School in 2020-21 before finishing his prep career at Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, played at Fordham from 2022-24. He played one season at Temple before transferring to Wisconsin last summer.
In October, Wisconsin announced that Gray had been dismissed from the team “related to events preceding his enrollment at UW-Madison.” The statement added, “privacy laws limit the university’s ability to share more at this time.”
The federal indictment says Gray agreed in February 2024 to help fix games while he played at Fordham. The fixers bet $195,000 on Duquesne, a 3.5-point favorite, to cover point spread in a Feb. 23, 2024, game with Fordham. Gray scored three points, all in the first half, but Fordham rallied from six points down at halftime to beat Duquesne, 79-67. Another Fordham player, unnamed in the indictment, also agreed to help fix the game. He scored five points.
Regardless, the fixers lost their bets. After the game, one of the fixers (unnamed in court documents) lamented the lost bet. Gray told him, according to text messages, “I tried.” The fixer told Gray, “You did your job for sure,” while bemoaning the fine play of another Fordham player.
Gray, 22, is charged with bribery in sporting contests.
Two of the alleged college basketball fixers charged Thursday, Marves Fairley and Shane Hennen, also face charges as part of sports gambling case brought by New York federal prosecutors that involved NBA games. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged in that case.
“The stakes here are far higher than anything on a bet slip,” Metcalf said on Thursday. “The criminal charges we have filed allege the criminal corruption of collegiate athletics through an international conspiracy of NCAA players, alumni, and professional bettors. It’s also yet another blow to public confidence in the integrity of sport, which rests on the fundamental principles of fairness, honesty, and respect for the rules of competition. When criminal acts threaten to corrupt such a central institution of American life, the Department of Justice won’t hesitate to step in.”
This story was originally published January 15, 2026 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Four NC men among 26 charged in college basketball gambling scheme."
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated the company Jalen Smith worked for in Charlotte.