Three college basketball players have been slapped with lifetime bans for betting on their own games.
Two former Fresno State players and their ex-teammate who played last year for San Jose State had their NCAA eligibility permanently revoked following an investigation.
The probe concerned at least five Mountain West Conference games throughout the 2024-25 season in which the players bet on their own games, bet on one another’s games or provided information that enabled the others to do so.
Mykell Robinson, Steven Vasquez and Jalen Weaver were released from their respective teams and are no longer enrolled at the schools involved according to the NCAA.
Robinson and Weaver were teammates at Fresno State last season while Vasquez, formerly of Fresno State, played for San Jose State. The cases were resolved via negotiated resolution in coordination with the schools.
During the 2023-24 season, Robinson and Vasquez were roommates at Fresno State. Vasques, who transferred to San Jose State before the 2024-25 season, is alleged to have communicated with Robinson via text before Fresno State’s 91-64 loss to Colorado State on January 7, 2025.
The NCAA believe Vasquez conspired with Robinson to wager with sports betting apps on his former roommate’s under totals on points scored, rebounds, assists and three-pointers made during the game.
Prior to tip-off, Robinson’s mother sent money to Vasquez via Apple Pay to place a $200 bet on Robinson’s behalf. He finished with three points and two rebounds in then defeat and after the game, Vasquez transferred $1,625 ($1,425 winnings) to Robinson through his mother.
In February’s Vasquez’s lawyers told NCAA enforcement staff that the player would not participate in the investigation and Vasquez was subsequently released from the men’s basketball programme.
The investigation also revealed Robinson placed multiple bets on Weaver with online casinos before a game in late December 2024. Prior to the game, both players exchanged information about their respective betting lines.
On December 31, 2024, Weaver placed a $50, three-leg parlay on himself, Robinson and a player from a different college. It featured the over for Weaver’s assists, the over on Robinson’s three-pointers made and the other player’s total points scored.
The bet won and Weaver collected a payout of $260. In an ESPN interview in February, Weaver admitted betting on himself: “I just made a bad decision, and I shouldn’t have gotten involved with that. 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.”
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
