The University of New Orleans men’s basketball sports betting scandal is reportedly part of a much larger developing story involving the same gambling ring that conspired with disgraced former NBA player Jontay Porter.
ESPN reported late Wednesday that members of the gambling ring placed bets on the Privateers’ games against McNeese State and Southeastern Louisiana. The gambling ring has also been tied to unusual betting activity which led to NCAA investigations for Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina AT&T.
Sources: Gambling ring linked to NBA and college basketball betting cases placed wagers on multiple University of New Orleans games this season. Four UNO players have been suspended.https://t.co/Rlw75yMbzv
— David Payne Purdum (@DavidPurdum) February 26, 2025
This is the same gambling ring linked to Porter, who the NBA banned for life for violating the league’s gambling policy after he admitted to manipulating his performance while playing for the Toronto Raptors.
Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 Media Network posted on ‘X’ Wednesday morning to report that the previous suspensions of four of UNO’s top five scorers is related to an NCAA sports betting investigation.
The University of New Orleans investigation involves James White (19.2 ppg), Jah Short (9.2 ppg), Dae Dae Hunter (8.2 ppg) and Jaemond Vincent (7.8 ppg), who have not played since New Orleans lost to 74-58 loss to Incarnate Word on Jan. 27. The players were banned for what the university has called “an internal investigation for team rule violations.”
In addition to being the team’s leading scorer, White is the team’s second-leading rebounder (7.0), while Shah is third on the team rebounding (4.5 rpg) and second in assists (3.3 apg).
The New Orleans men’s basketball team has held out four of its top five scorers since a Jan. 27 loss to UIW due to an investigation into sports gambling, sources told @TheFieldOf68.
Leading scorer James White (19.2 ppg), Jah Short (9.2 ppg), Dae Dae Hunter (8.2 ppg) and Jamond…
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 26, 2025
Interim AD: ‘They broke a team rule’
Interim athletic director Vince Granito confirmed the suspensions Wednesday, but would not verify that the players were banned for sports gambling ties, as reported by Goodman, a long-time college basketball reporter who previously worked for ESPN, CBS Sports and FOX Sports (among others).
“Because they broke a team rule, we had to suspend them. They’ve been suspended for a month already. This is not ‘new’ news,” Granito said, at a press conference to introduce Percy “Master P” Miller as the school’s new president of basketball operations, according to New Orleans-based WVUE.
“They will be available again once the investigation is over, but at this point, it’s not. When you have a situation, you have to report it to the NCAA, and it’s up to them to move forward. … If (the players) are cleared, they can come back to the team.”
The Privateers have lost 11 straight games, including each of their past eight since the four players were suspended. UNO is 4-25 and 2-16 in Southland Conference play, tied for last in the conference with East Texas A&M.
“At this time I don’t have any more information I can give you on that,” Granito said at a press conference Wednesday.
More sports betting issues for college basketball
The news of the New Orleans basketball players’ potential role in a sports betting scandal is the second such headline-grabbing story this week.
Last weekend, reports surfaced that three Fresno State basketball players are also under investigation – two of them for allegedly wagering on games in which they played.
There is also an ongoing investigation into a former Temple basketball player who is accused of point shaving in a game against the University of Alabama-Birmingham last March.