NCAA bans former Abilene Christian player Airion Simmons for game-fixing
The NCAA has permanently banned former Abilene Christian basketball player Airion Simmons for allegedly conspiring with sports bettors to fix a game in March 2024.
According to the Division I Committee on Infractions, the former Wildcats forward colluded with a teammate to intentionally underperform in exchange for cash.
In January, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania indicted the collegiate athlete alongside two bettors on charges including bribery, fraud, and conspiracy.
Lucrative point-shaving operation
The wider gambling scheme involved fixers recruiting athletes with promises of significant payouts to purposely lose matches.
Authorities stated these illicit gamblers would then place wagers against the compromised teams to defraud sportsbooks.
During a December interview, the disgraced player confessed to NCAA investigators that he was approached by multiple individuals seeking to manipulate the result.
Dallas parking lot payoff
The plot unraveled when a transfer student reported the attempted corruption to university officials in September.
This whistleblower revealed he was pressured during a video call with the accused conspirators to join the illicit enterprise.
To facilitate the fix, the Texas-based athlete leveraged a legitimate hand injury and offered to intentionally play poorly for an agreed $3,500 fee.
After featuring for just 11 minutes before exiting the court, he collected his illicit earnings from a contact in a Dallas parking lot.
The governing body confirmed he kept the entirety of the cash payout rather than distributing it among his co-conspirators.
Wider NCAA gambling crackdown
While he initially agreed to be questioned by investigators, the former student-athlete ultimately declined to participate further in the disciplinary process.
This permanent suspension follows a similar ruling last month where two former Fordham University basketball players were banished for their involvement in the same nationwide point-shaving scandal.