As the NBA’s investigation into illegal gambling continues to unfold, the NCAA was hit with a similar investigation of its own—and a BIG EAST team at the center of it all.
A 70-page indictment released on Jan. 15 alleged that four former DePaul University players manipulated game outcomes for sportsbook bettors during the 2023-24 basketball season.
Da’Sean Nelson, Micawber Etienne, Jalen Terry and one unnamed player allegedly intentionally underperformed to influence the outcome of three games, including DePaul’s home games against Georgetown on Feb. 24, 2024, Butler on March 2, 2024, and St. John’s on March 5, 2024.
It seems that only home games have been affected, but the fixed games happened within just days of each other. Many other schools in the BIG EAST could have been affected by this, one of those teams being Seton Hall.
Following their loss to St. John’s, DePaul was set to face SHU at the Prudential Center on March 9, 2024, and who’s to say those players did not fix that game as well? The outcome of their matchup was an 86-62 win for the Pirates.
With these fixed games happening too close for comfort around their matchup with the Pirates, some students at SHU have concerns and seek improvements to this issue, regardless of the Pirates winning that game.
Junior journalism major Dylan Lozano-Valerio, for example, voiced solutions to train athletes to handle sports betting situations and the harm of extensive advertising.
“From an athletic department standpoint, just having more guardrails for those types of things [by] teaching these athletes how to protect themselves,” Lozano-Valerio said. “A lot of people talk about how sports betting is advertised for everybody, including young men [like the players involved who] aren't adults yet and can't sports bet [legally] yet.”
Lozano-Valerio added that he believes these players get excited and when they are offered to be part of something bigger than themselves, they tend to “jump the gun” and take the opportunity to earn some extra revenue.
Aside from just training athletes, some SHU students think that universities' athletic departments should encourage athletes to notify them when contacted, to avoid getting involved in scandals such as these. One student-athlete at SHU, who chose to be anonymous for personal reasons, believes that there should be meetings and experts to teach those like himself how to save money.
“It’d be beneficial for every college athlete to have monthly conferences and courses where they have an expert come in and teach them how to not only properly save money, but take care of their earnings,” student-athlete said. “Personal finances overall are very important for student-athletes, so they are able to save up what they make in college.”
Other students, like junior sports media major James Costa, highlighted how the involvement of these DePaul players is “a bad look” for universities in the BIG EAST.
“It's an embarrassment to the BIG EAST, to the conference as a whole because regardless of how well they play, it's still a representation of the conference in general,” Costa said.
“There is no precedent right now for sports betting, lawfully or within the schools. At the end of the day, it has to be on the school's a little bit,” he added. “You have to be able to help your student athletes and be able to guide them in the right direction.”
Costa even proposed incorporating an “anonymous penalty-free reporting option,” where students-athletes can report if they have been contacted or have information about a similar situation.
In agreement with Costa is junior finance and marketing major Oren Mouton, explained how athletic departments, including coaches, should be more proactive about the matter.
“It needs to be on the coaches to educate their players,” Mouton said.
In addition to athletic departments being more proactive, sophomore business student James Smith believes that identifying what drives these student-athletes to get involved in such criminal activity should be prioritized and prevented.
“We must identify why student-athletes feel compelled to turn to illegal influences in the first place,” Smith said. “If we can understand the root causes—whether financial pressure, lack of support, or fear of losing opportunities—we can address the problem before it escalates.”
“Prevention starts with recognizing these vulnerabilities and offering real solutions,” Smith added. “Not just punishment after the fact.”
DePaul will play host to SHU later today, as the Pirates make the trip to Chicago looking to avoid a four-game losing streak.
Jayden Bracket is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at jayden.bracket@student.shu.edu.
