Two more defendants plead guilty in US college basketball point-shaving case

Two more defendants have entered or agreed to guilty pleas in the US college basketball point-shaving case, which prosecutors describe as one of the largest match-fixing schemes in the sport's history. Earlier this month, trainer Jalen Smith became the first defendant to be formally sentenced, receiving 72 months in prison at a hearing in Philadelphia on 14 October.

Roderick Winkler, 32, pleaded guilty before US District Judge Nitza I Quiñones Alejandro to several felony charges, including bribery in sporting contests. Separately, former Southern Mississippi guard Arlando "Mo" Arnold agreed to plead guilty to bribery in sporting contests and to aiding and abetting the scheme. Arnold averaged 6.2 points and 2.4 assists per game in 2023-24 as a fifth-year senior.

According to prosecutors from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the scheme began in the 2023-24 season. Winkler, a resident of Little Rock, Arkansas, who worked as a coach and trainer in AAU and high school basketball, joined others in recruiting and bribing players. The fixers allegedly targeted athletes for whom the payments would match or exceed their legitimate Name-Image-Likeness income, and focused on players from underdog teams, asking them to fail to cover the spread.

In total, the case involved more than 39 players on over 17 NCAA Division I men's basketball teams, who fixed or attempted to fix more than 29 games. The scheme generated more than $3 million in fraudulent wagers and more than $1.1 million in losses for sportsbooks across the country.

Winkler's activity reportedly involved about a dozen players, with games featuring teams such as Nicholls State, Tulane, St Louis, Buffalo, North Carolina A&T and Robert Morris. In March 2024, he and others recruited University of New Orleans guard Carlos Hart, who with a teammate underperformed against Lamar, producing a six-figure win for the syndicate. Arnold allegedly helped fix two Southern Miss games, a 73-70 loss to South Alabama and a 77-61 defeat to Louisiana, and helped recruit Hart.

For those two games and the Lamar game, the fixers could have won $673,885, but one Southern Miss game did not beat the spread, so they won $269,766. Winkler faces a maximum of 45 years in prison and will be sentenced on 8 February 2027. Arnold faces up to five years and is due to be sentenced on 29 March 2027.