The NCAA determined that former Abilene Christian men’s basketball player Airion Simmons violated the organization’s sports betting rules as part of a gambling scheme involving his own poor performance in exchange for payment.
The NCAA caught wind of Simmons’s illicit behavior after another student-athlete self-reported the gambling violations to his new institution after transferring from ACU. The reported violations led the NCAA to initiate a probe into Simmons’ alleged conduct.
The investigation included an interview with Simmons, with the Arkansas native admitting to the NCAA his involvement in an alleged gambling scheme and how far it expanded. Simmons is no longer enrolled at ACU and is not an active NCAA student-athlete.
How Simmons helped manipulate NCAA games
According to the NCAA investigation, Simmons concocted a plan in March 2024 to find “a way to get paid to lose” a game against Tarleton State. Simmons discussed the plan with teammates while playing video games, and later, the former ACU basketball player developed a plan with teammates and “known bettors” to lose the game against Tarleton.
- Simmons and the known bettors discussed explicit terms for ACU to lose
- A known bettor provided Simmons with $3,500 to “play bad” in the contest
- Simmons only played in 11 minutes due to a “hand injury”
- After the game was done, Simmons met an unknown person to receive cash for the loss
- Simmons did not share the winnings with any teammates at ACU
“On March 20, 2024, Simmons violated the principles of NCAA honesty and sportsmanship when he knowingly provided information to individuals involved in sports wagering activities and agreed to manipulate his performance during one Abilene Christian men’s basketball game to financially benefit himself and others,” said the NCAA in its resolution.
The NCAA also noted Simmons’s ongoing legal issues from the gambling scheme. Simmons is listed as a defendant in a federal indictment for alleged point-shaving that was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania earlier this year.
Simmons is one of 26 people to have been allegedly involved in a point-shaving scheme that included multiple institutions in several jurisdictions. The charges the defendants are facing in the case include wire fraud, aiding and abetting, and bribery in sporting contests.
Former Kennesaw State men’s basketball player Simeon Cottle is also a defendant in the case. Last month, the NCAA and Cottle reached a resolution regarding his conduct. Cottle, who is out of NCAA eligibility, was suspended in his final year at Kennesaw State.
NCAA gambling woes reach college football
Gambling issues have also raised their head in Power Four college football.
Earlier this month, the Ohio Casino Control Commission and the Indiana Gaming Commission initiated investigations into Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
The regulators initiated the probes after Texas Tech announced Sorsby was taking an “indefinite leave of absence” to enter a gambling addiction treatment program.
Sorsby entered the program after the quarterback allegedly wagered on his own team in 2022 while a member of Indiana’s football program. Ohio’s gaming regulator is getting involved as Sorsby transferred from Indiana to Cincinnati, where he played two seasons. Sorsby eventually departed Cincinnati for Texas Tech for the 2026 season.
The NCAA is conducting its own investigation into Sorsby’s alleged betting activity. The probe can lead to sanctions, including permanent ineligibility. Sorsby also faces discipline from both state gaming regulators in Ohio and Indiana.
