INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Three former Eastern Michigan basketball players refused to cooperate with an investigation into potential sports betting violations earlier this year, the NCAA said Friday.
The lack of cooperation constitutes an NCAA violation that could trigger permanent ineligibility, according to a decision released by the Division I Committee on Infractions. But the three former starters — Jalin Billingsley, Da’Sean Nelson and Jalen Terry — were seniors and have no collegiate eligibility remaining.
Still, the NCAA announcement put another spotlight on sports betting a day after an FBI investigation into illicit gambling activities resulted in the arrests of NBA coach Chauncey Billups of the Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and others.
In January, the NCAA enforcement staff received notifications from multiple integrity monitoring services about suspicious first-half betting activity on Eastern Michigan’s Jan. 14 game, a lopsided loss to Central Michigan. Integrity services subsequently determined that abnormal betting activity occurred on two previous games that season as well, losses to Toledo and Akron.
Shortly thereafter, the enforcement staff contacted the school and opened a collaborative investigation.
On Jan. 29, two days after consulting with legal counsel, Billingsley, Nelson and Terry had their phones imaged by an enforcement vendor. The enforcement staff made numerous requests to interview the players through legal counsel after their phones were imaged.
On March 17, more than a week after the team’s season ended, counsel for the players notified NCAA enforcement staff that the players would not participate in the process and instructed the vendor to destroy the images.
Failure to cooperate in an NCAA investigation, including refusing to interview or produce relevant materials, violates NCAA rules. As a result of the players’ refusal to cooperate, the enforcement staff was unable to determine whether sports betting violations occurred.
“When individuals choose not to cooperate, particularly when cases involve potential integrity issues, those choices can and will be met with serious consequences including prohibitions on athletically related activities, the loss of eligibility and/or being publicly named in an infractions decision,” the committee said in its decision.
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