Three former DePaul basketball players are among the 39 from at least 17 NCAA Division I programs allegedly involved in a sweeping FBI investigation into point shaving.
Jalen Terry, Da’Sean Nelson and Micawber Etienne allegedly made intentional mistakes to influence the first-half spread in a February 2024 game against Georgetown in exchange for bribe payments, according to unsealed court documents from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
In broadcast clips that resurfaced on social media on Thursday, Terry and Nelson are shown making several head-scratching plays that led to turnovers.
Just over 1:30 into the game, Terry received a pass from Nelson only to lob it blindly toward a Georgetown player at the top of the arc before instantly hustling in the other direction.
A couple of minutes later, Terry dished a heedless one-handed pass out of bounds that was in Nelson’s direction. Nelson futilely lunged toward the out-of-reach ball.
With around 10 minutes left in the half, Terry attempted to lob a pass over an encroaching defender’s head before getting blocked, catching the ball and hastily tossing it over to Georgetown.
Georgetown was a 2.5-point first-half spread favorite; they finished the half leading 41-28, but won the game in a 77-76 squeaker.
The indictment alleges that Terry, Nelson and Etienne were bribed $40,000 to rig the game.
The court documents allege that Terry and Nelson communicated with “the fixers,” defendants who recruited players to participate in the scheme by offering bribes via FaceTime to agree on bribes for deliberately throwing the first half.
“In or about late February 2024, in FaceTime communications among the fixers and the DePaul players, defendants JALEN TERRY and DA’SEAN NELSON, and Micawber Etienne and Person #6, agreed to fix an upcoming DePaul game in exchange for bribe payments,” the indictment read. “In particular, shortly before the NCAA men’s basketball game between DePaul and the Georgetown University Hoyas Men’s Basketball Team (“Georgetown”) on or about February 24, 2024, the players agreed to underperform in and influence the first half of the Georgetown game so that DePaul would not cover the first-half spread.”
Terry and Nelson finished the game with 16 points apiece, which ironically almost doubled both of their respective season averages of 8.5 and 9.7. Etienne didn’t record a point.
They also allegedly accepted payments to perform poorly in subsequent losses against Butler and St. Johns, which are two contests included in the 29 total college basketball games across two seasons in the indictment.
The three DePaul players are included in the 26 defendants facing charges of bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aiding and abetting.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
