Man who helped recruit players into a sprawling NCAA basketball point-shaving scheme pleads guilty

By Canadian Press on March 9, 2026.

One of the so-called fixers in a sprawling betting scheme to cash in on big bets on rigged NCAA basketball games pleaded guilty Monday, according to the federal prosecutors’ office in Philadelphia.

Jalen Smith, appearing in federal court in Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and bribery charges.

Smith, of Charlotte, North Carolina, trained and developed local basketball players for professional scouting combines and used those connections with players when he became part of the scheme, prosecutors say.

Charges against Smith were unsealed in January along with 25 others. Besides the fixers who recruited players and placed bets, the charges targeted 17 former college basketball players and four other players who were active with their college teams this season.

More than a dozen players tried to fix games as recently as last season, and some helped recruit other players, federal prosecutors said.

Smith was active in helping fix games in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, placing bets and recruiting players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game, prosecutors said.

The fixers would then bet against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said.

Smith often traveled to meet players to deliver cash payments by hand, prosecutors said.

Marc Levy, The Associated Press