Point shaving is back – Washington Examiner

The Fresno State Bulldogs basketball team has had a historically bad season, with its longest losing streak, most losses (23 and counting), and most conference losses (16 and counting). That was punctuated with a loss to Air Force, previously winless in the conference, a game in which the Bulldogs were missing leading scorers Jalen Weaver and Zaon Collins.

The two were sidelined for the game because it turned out they may have been gambling on games all year. Thus far, it has been reported that Weaver and Mykell Robinson, another important player who has been off the team since mid-January, bet on the games they played. Collins reportedly bet on professional sports.

Weaver and Robinson reportedly bet the under on either the team’s point and rebound totals or their own individual points and rebounds. Fresno State fans can take solace from this: The team’s worst-ever season can be blamed, in part, on two key players who rarely came off the court, allegedly sandbagging the team to line their own pockets. There is always a silver lining.

Meanwhile, potentially unrelated to Fresno State’s scandal, multiple college teams are being investigated for point shaving by the NCAA. Eastern Michigan, North Carolina A&T, and Temple all have games being investigated by the federal government and the NCAA, tied to the gambling ring that included former NBA player Jontay Porter. Porter colluded with bettors to underperform for bets on his individual statistics, which included faking eye injuries to ensure that he didn’t record too many rebounds.

Much of this was made possible by sports betting being accessible right from your phone. FanDuel, DraftKings, PrizePicks, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, and on and on the list goes. Even ESPN started up its own sports gambling service. Those apps are not just sitting in the app store, either. They are one of the pillars of sports advertising right now, with professional leagues launching multiple partnerships to promote who they decide to be their official sportsbooks.

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS EYEING GUARDRAILS ON SPORTS BETTING

All of those options and the normalization of sports gambling have led to quite a few problems. For one, athletes who are not permitted to gamble decide to do so because, as with the old saying about smoking, “all the cool kids are doing it.” Two, it leads to wagers on things so specific and off-the-radar that it opens up the possibility for players to get themselves into the point-shaving business. After all, what normal person is betting on Porter’s individual stats or subjecting themselves to Fresno State basketball?

Gambling suspensions have plagued the NFL and the basketball world in the past few years. The vast, growing sports gambling landscape will continue to convince athletes that sandbagging games for extra cash is a real option for them. Point shaving is back in style, and if it can hit Fresno State’s 5-23 basketball team, it can hit anyone with access to the app store.