Ohio Governor Responds To College Basketball Point-Shaving Scandal
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine addressed the men’s college basketball point-shaving scheme, which involves more than 39 players on 17 NCAA Division I teams that resulted in dozens of games in the previous two seasons being fixed by a gambling ring that included a former NBA player.
Point-Shaving Scheme Did Not Involve Ohio Athletes
Last Thursday, federal prosecutors with the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania announced the indictment of 20 individuals from schools outside of Ohio.
Per the indictment, 20 of the 26 defendants played during the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 seasons.
Four of the players charged — Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Camian Shell and Oumar Koureissi — have played for their current teams in the past week.
“The stakes here are far higher than anything on a bet slip. The criminal charges we have filed allege the criminal corruption of collegiate athletics through an international conspiracy of NCAA players, alumni, and professional bettors,” United States Attorney David Metcalf said in a release.
“It’s also yet another blow to public confidence in the integrity of sport, which rests on the fundamental principles of fairness, honesty, and respect for the rules of competition. When criminal acts threaten to corrupt such a central institution of American life, the Department of Justice won’t hesitate to step in.”
Ohio State also responded to the news last Friday.
Mike DeWine Regrets Signing Sports Betting Bill
DeWine, who signed the 2021 bill into law that legalized sports betting in Ohio, cited the NCAA’s latest scandal to explain why the state’s Casino Control Commission banned player prop bets.
“There is news today out of Philadelphia of another troubling case involving collegiate prop betting,” DeWine said in a statement. “This is why Ohio and the NCAA worked to ban collegiate prop bets in Ohio almost two years ago in February 2024.
“While I applaud law enforcement and prosecutors for taking today’s action, this disturbing news reinforces that states across the country need to follow Ohio’s lead and heed NCAA President Charlie Baker’s call to ban collegiate prop bets in their states as well.”
In November 2025, DeWine said he regretted legalizing sports betting after two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, were indicted earlier that month on charges that they accepted bribes from bettors to throw rigged pitches.
“Look, we’ve always had gambling, we’re always going to have gambling,” he said at the time. “But just the power of these companies and the deep, deep, deep pockets they have to advertise and do everything they can to get someone to place that bet is really different once you have legalization of them.”
Both Clase and Ortiz have pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering.
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