Nevada Makes First Arrest in Fresno State Basketball Match-Fixing Scandal
Nevada gaming regulators have made their first arrests in a match-fixing case tied to Fresno State men’s basketball team.
What began as a betting scandal with ramifications for NCAA eligibility is now turning into a criminal one. More charges are expected.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) announced Thursday that it had concluded its investigation into suspicious wagering on Fresno State games during the 2024-2025 season. This led to the arrest of one individual, who authorities booked into the Clark County Detention Center on May 5. The agency didn’t name the individual, citing the integrity of the ongoing investigation, and said that “Several additional suspects remain outstanding.”
According to the board, the suspect faces three felony counts under Nevada law. These are fraudulent acts, conspiracy to cheat at gambling, and conspiracy to launder money. Investigators allege the case involves “former and current associates connected to collegiate basketball programs,” who used knowledge that a player intended to underperform and placed prop bets on the individual athlete’s statistics to profit from that knowledge.
Regulated Sportsbooks Collaborated With Investigators
The investigation traces back to a single regular-season game. Regulators say they have established probable cause that multiple people conspired to place bets on the intentional underperformance of a player in a January 7, 2025, game. The board said investigators built the case using subpoenas, financial records, cellphone data, and reports from licensed sportsbooks in coordination with the NCAA.
A sports integrity monitoring service and a Nevada sportsbook first flagged the scheme. They noticed unusual prop bet activity on Fresno State guard Mykell Robinson in January 2025 and alerted both the NCAA and the university. The NCAA quickly started an investigation, and Fresno State suspended several players the following month under what it called an “eligibility matter.”
The NCAA has now permanently revoked the eligibility of three Division I players. These were Robinson, Steven Vasquez, and Jalen Weaver, after the Committee on Infractions found that they shared information to manipulate prop bet outcomes. Robinson and Vasquez had been roommates at Fresno State during the 2023-2024 season. Vasquez was playing at San Jose State by the time of the alleged scheme.
The NCAA’s findings paint a detailed picture of the Jan. 7 game, which Colorado State won 91-64. Robinson, who had been averaging about 10 points per game, finished with just three. Regulators and the NCAA say Robinson, Vasquez, and a third party staked a total of $2,200 on Robinson’s “under” lines in various statistical categories.
Those bets resulted in a total payout of $15,590. The infractions report also described Robinson placing bets on Weaver, with Weaver knowing about a small parlay that included both players.
Robinson and Vasquez didn’t cooperate with the NCAA investigation, but Weaver did and accepted the violation. The NCAA banned all three from college basketball, as gambling on their own sport triggers an automatic ban under NCAA rules.
Identity of Arrested Individual Unclear
The NGCB’s announcement leaves uncertainty about who exactly prosecutors are currently charging. A review of the Clark County Detention Center records showed that none of the three banned players were in custody last month.
This suggests that the first person charged could be an associate or an intermediary, which would match the board’s references to “associates connected to” basketball programs.
The Fresno State case lands at a time when authorities are putting college sports betting under more scrutiny than at any point in decades. Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia in January unsealed indictments charging more than two dozen people in connection with an alleged scheme to fix college basketball games in the U.S. The NCAA had banned six players in a separate investigation a few months earlier for game-fixing in smaller programs.
The common thread between the cases is the player prop bet. A single athlete can intentionally fall short of a points, rebounds, or assists line without making it too obvious, so the NCAA wants states to completely ban these markets. Some states, like Maryland, Ohio, Vermont, and Louisiana, don’t allow them.
It’s now a case of wait and see with the Fresno State case, especially as the NGCB’s announcement suggests that further arrests are likely.
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