Former NC A&T basketball player included in NCAA sports betting investigation
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Thirteen former players face NCAA inquiry tied to sports betting violations.
- Six schools linked to ex-athletes, with North Carolina A&T among those named.
- Schools and staff remain uninvolved; infractions alleged only against athletes.
Thirteen former men’s basketball players are under NCAA investigation for allegedly violating the institution’s sports betting rules or failing to cooperate with the investigation. North Carolina A&T is one of six schools with a former athlete involved in the case.
It is unclear whether the alleged infractions were committed by one or multiple student-athletes for the Aggies. None of 13 former players are enrolled at their previous schools, and they will not be named until the investigation concludes.
The accused former players attended Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley at the time of the alleged infractions. There are other cases in different stages of investigation.
The News & Observer contacted the North Carolina A&T athletic department for comment.
According to a CBS Sports report on Thursday, the former Arizona State player involved is BJ Freeman, a Selma native who played at Clayton High School before finishing his prep career at Moravian Prep School in Hickory. Having previously played at Dodge City (Kan.) Community College and Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Freeman started 22 games for Arizona State last season before being dismissed from the team what the school described as “conduct detrimental to the team” last February.
According to the NCAA, the investigations focus on players who bet on and against their own teams; sharing information with third parties for sports gambling purposes; manipulating scoring or game outcomes; and/or refusing to participate in the investigation.
The NCAA reportedly flagged “unusual betting activities” related to these teams’ regular season games, which led to the organization opening an investigation and seeking evidence of violations.
According to the report, the schools at which these infractions allegedly occurred were not involved, nor were the respective staffs. The schools are not under investigation and are not facing penalties, according to the NCAA’s release.
“The NCAA monitors over 22,000 contests every year and will continue to aggressively pursue competition integrity risks such as these,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement. “I am grateful for the NCAA enforcement team’s relentless work and for the schools’ cooperation in these matters. 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.”
NCAA rules do not allow athletes nor staff members at schools, conferences or national offices to bet on any sports, college or professional, for which the NCAA hosts championships. Athletes who participate in sports betting may be reinstated if they participate in sports betting rules and prevention education courses. Players who bet on their own team, however, lose all remaining eligibility.
This investigation comes after the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions completed three similar cases involving former players at Fresno State and San Jose State related to sports betting and manipulating game outcomes.
Online sports betting was legalized in North Carolina in March 2024, shortly before the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 1:47 PM.
