Alabama State Players Allegedly Fixed Basketball Game

Another day, another betting scandal involving basketball players. This one comes from Alabama State — the Hornets, not the Rollong Tide.

The story had been out for a while now, but the NCAA just released more bombshell details. It’s the latest black eye to the sport — both at the collegiate and pro level. Keep on reading, and we’ll give you all the must-know details on another legal betting scandal.

What The Alabama State Players Are Being Accused Of

These are accusations only for now (no one’s been convinced yet), but they’re are pretty damning. Four ex-Alabama State players are accused of taking money to manipulate a game against Southern Miss on December 5, 2024. The players named are Amarr Knox, Shawn Fulcher, Corey Hines, and Tony Madlock.

According to the NCAA, two known bettors offered the group a total of $2,000 to throw the game. Yes, that little of money did the trick… anyways, the players allegedly accepted the offer and did as they were told.

In that December game, Alabama State faced Southern Miss, which entered as a six-point favorites on top sports betting apps. Sure enough, Southern Miss wound up winning 81-64.

What makes this even wilder is the caliber of players involved. Knox, Hines, and Madlock weren’t random bench guys. They were Alabama State’s top three scorers during the 2024-25 season. This a team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time that season, too. In the First Four game, Knox hit a game-winner to help Alabama State defeat Saint Francis.

So yeah, this story isn’t random. This team and group of guys actually carved out a name for themselves at Alabama State. All that is in damage control now, of course.

None of the four played for the team a season ago. For one, Hines transferred to Temple, and that’s how the story was discovered. Temple notified NCAA enforcement staff that Hines had been contacted by the FBI and shown text messages tied to a sports integrity issue from his Alabama State days.

The two bettors involved — the ones that did the bidding — were later indicted by federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania on wire fraud and sports bribery charges. So this isn’t just NCAA finger-wagging either. Federal investigators are involved, too, which tells you how serious the allegations are.

One Player Denies Any Wrongdoing

This is not an open-and-shut case by any means. One of the accused, Madlock, has denied the allegations. In fact, his counter-argument is pretty easy to understand: he didn’t even play in the game against Southern Miss.

Madlock was sidelined with an injury he suffered in the previous game and also missed Alabama State’s next contest afterward. That’s why he’s outright asking anyone who’ll listen: how exactly is someone supposed to help fix a game from the bench? Good question!

Circling back to the NCAA allegations, there was a supposed FaceTime call between the bettors and players to sort out the details of the rig job. This was followed by a group chat message between the six. Madlock admits of the group chat, but that doesn’t mean he’s involved.

“Nothing that (the NCAA) put out is true,” he said. “I was added to a group chat, but I never responded to anyone’s texts. Why would I respond, knowing I wouldn’t be playing? Also, why would somebody pay me for sitting on the bench? That doesn’t even make any sense.”

Madlock has hired sports attorney Don Jackson and is demanding the NCAA retract its findings. If that doesn’t happen, he says legal action will ensue next.

Part of Madlock’s frustration stems from the fact that he never actually spoke with NCAA investigators. According to his account, NCAA emails were sent to an address he no longer used. By the time communication reached him through other channels, he had already exhausted his college eligibility and was playing professionally overseas. Madlock says he was told he did not need to participate in an interview, a decision he now regrets.

Whether his explanation ultimately holds up or not remains to be seen. But his defense does introduce an obvious wrinkle into the story. The NCAA’s report paints all four players with the same brush, while Madlock insists his situation was completely different from everyone else’s.

Basketball Has Been A Magnet For Such Scandals

Why does basketball seemingly keep showing up in these types of stories? Simple: it’s one of the easiest sports to influence by bad actors.

Football has 22 players on the field. Baseball has dozens of individual events spread across nine innings. Basketball, meanwhile, is played by just five guys at a time — and each one has an outsized effect on the game. Given that ease, you can see why scammers latch onto NCAAB or NBA betting, right?

Unfortunately, college hoops creates an even bigger vulnerability. Most student athletes — the ones not in the power conferences — are making marginal NIL money. So a well-pocketed bettor can easily sway them. You saw it with this alleged story where a measly $2,000 payment did the trick.

It’s sad this keeps popping up, but you can understand why the NCAA and FBI are pursuing these cases so aggressively. The risks of it keep happening are high so they’re trying to make an example out of early rule-breakers. We’ll see if these four players are vindicated in time or not though…