‘So How Is Master P Involved In This?’: NCAA Probe Uncovers NCAA and NBA Gambling Ring At Several Major Schools with Bettors Tied To Jontay Porter’s NBA Banishment
The detriments of gambling have reared its ugly head again, this time infiltrating college athletics. The NCAA announced on Thursday that its “enforcement staff is in the process of alleging violations of sports betting rules and/or related failure-to-cooperate violations” for 13 former men’s college basketball players.
13 Former Men’s College Basketball Players Under Investigation for Gambling Ring: Ties to Jontay Porter NBA Banishment
That probe has uncovered a gambling ring that’s been found to have wagered on NCAA and NBA games. The bettors allegedly have ties to a case that led to Jontay Porter’s banishment from the league. A number of college programs have also been named.
Those names have not been released yet, but one of the schools — University of New Orleans — is affiliated with rap legend Masta P. The players allegedly competed at six different universities, including Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley State. The players’ names were not released.
“While the facts and alleged behaviors in each case vary, they include student-athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of sports betting, knowingly manipulating scoring or game outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the enforcement staff’s investigation,” the NCAA stated in a press release announcing the alleged violations.
The NCAA didn’t want to address the case publicly but claimed that it decided to release this information “because of the extensive public reporting regarding these cases.” The organization saw the potential damage and confusion that allowing the public to take a narrative and make up their own facts could cause. Most specifically, confirming which universities are involved in current ongoing cases due to the “number of schools” that “have been identified in media reporting.”
Reports say the NCAA discovered the betting violations after they were alerted to unusual betting patterns around regular-season games played by these specific college basketball teams. In some of the cases, damning text messages, direct messages on social media and other material evidence were key pieces used in confirming the violations actually occurred.
Schools Will Not Be Punished By The NCAA: Players Acted Alone
One aspect of the case that people may find interesting is the fact that the NCAA also added in its report that “the schools and respective school staffs in the ongoing cases are not alleged to have been involved in the violations by student-athletes.” Therefore, none of these schools are at risk to be penalized in any way, which should make them more than cooperative in helping to get to the bottom of the alleged infractions.
“The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests every year and will continue to aggressively pursue competition integrity risks such as these,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker, adding, “The rise of sports betting is creating more opportunity for athletes across sports to engage in this unacceptable behavior, and while legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at the table when setting policies.”
The New Orleans men’s basketball team has held out four of its top five scorers since a Jan. 27 loss to UIW due to an investigation into sports gambling, sources told @TheFieldOf68.
Leading scorer James White (19.2 ppg), Jah Short (9.2 ppg), Dae Dae Hunter (8.2 ppg) and Jamond…
What Does Rap Mogul Master P Have To Do With NCAA Illegal Gambling Probe On Several College Basketball Programs?
“So what does Master P have to do with that,” asked one netizen who posted about the alleged NCAA and NBA gambling ring that implicates more than a dozen players from six well-known Division I universities.
The University of New Orleans is a school that has been named in the investigation. Earlier this year, the university made headlines when they hired music mogul Percy “Master P” Miller as its President of Basketball Operations.
Back in February, the New Orleans men’s basketball team announced that it had named legendary New Orleans entertainer and music mogul Percy “Master P” Miller President of Basketball Operations.
“This is a tremendously exciting day for the future of New Orleans Privateers basketball,” said head men’s basketball coach Stacy Hollowell at the time. “I am thrilled to add coach Percy Miller to our staff as President of Basketball Operations. Coach Miller cares deeply about his city, the University of New Orleans and Privateers basketball. We will benefit from his basketball knowledge and his relationships with people within the city and the game.”
In addition to all of his various accolades as a rap boss of No Limit records, entrepreneur and movie producer, Miller is a former college basketball player who has coached basketball for the past two decades. His AAU team, “P. Miller’s Ballers,” are three-time national championship winners. During that time, Miller had the honor to coach future NBA players Demar Derozan, Brandon Jennings, Lance Stephenson and Jalen Suggs.
Master P has been named President of Basketball Operations at the University of New Orleans pic.twitter.com/wL2XAAZY0Q
Miller drew attention when he signed 27-year-old street hooper Jamal Gibson, former Southern University at New Orleans (NAIA) standout, who before his two outstanding years at SUNO, never played organized basketball. His face tats and unusual journey to college ball brought attention to Master P’s hiring as President of Basketball Operations.
“As a kid growing up in New Orleans, I can honestly say that basketball changed and saved my life,” Miller said.
“At that time, UNO was one of the best programs in the country. It was all about Privateer Nation, and there was so much excitement on the Lakefront. As President of Basketball Operations, I am committed to bringing back that winning tradition to NOLA’s Team. But this is bigger than the game—it’s about educating and creating future leaders at the same time. I’m here to make sure that these young student-athletes have the opportunities, resources and mentorship to succeed on and off the court. UNO is our culture, our community, our city, our team and our family. It’s time to bring the love and passion back to New Orleans basketball.”
The rap mogul’s hiring appeared to coincide with the team being linked to the federal sports betting investigation, which heightened speculation and interest, although there’s no correlation between the accused players and Master P. It’s just not the situation he wants to be associated with to begin financial and cultural partnership with the school.
Stay tuned for more information as the names of these accused players will be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
