This is the latest survey question in our annual Candid Coaches feature. College basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander polled nearly 100 men's Division I coaches in the thick of the offseason on a variety of questions about the sport. Honesty was exchanged for anonymity. Question No. 6 is a big/troubling issue looming over all of college athletics.

A stupid shot in a tense moment.

An errant pass to one player when another was open.

A lapse on defense.

A lazy attempt at a winnable rebound.

A lack of hustle when an opportunity seemed right there for the taking.

These things happen all the time in college basketball. Usually, they're just mental slips, fatigue, miscommunication or other mishaps organically playing out.

But what if they're not? What if, spasmodically, they're behaviors rooted in malicious intent? What if there's something much more dangerous prowling in plain sight? College basketball has dealt with a handful of cases in recent years where players were found to have either attempted to fix games or sham their personal stat lines in an effort to make money through gambling. There have also been instances where players were busted for betting on their own teams' games, which is obviously against NCAA rules and can also lead to criminal charges.  

It's happened at Fresno State and Fordham, Arizona State and San Jose State and ... Abilene Christian, Alabama State, Buffalo, Coppin State, DePaul, Eastern Michigan, Kennesaw State, La Salle, New Orleans, Nicholls, North Carolina A&T, Northwestern State, Robert Morris, Saint Louis, Southern Miss, Temple and Tulane.

Inside the college basketball eligibility chaos as conferences push back on returning pros
Cameron Salerno
Inside the college basketball eligibility chaos as conferences push back on returning pros

Surprised by the number? That's the point of putting this question in this year's survey. While there is yet to be a huge scandal in this decade that's captured the country's attention, college basketball has endured a smattering of gambling-incited pyres across its schools and conferences. It's an ever-lurking problem.

What do the coaches think? What have they thought, or wondered, or been curious of inside their own programs? We asked:

Have you ever seriously wondered (or known) if a player of yours was compromised because of gambling?

No73%
Yes27%

Quotes that stood out

Coaches who said 'no'

  • "Never been a thought." 
  • "I'm cognizant of it, very cognizant of it, and if I thought it was going on, I would turn the player in. I think this should be on the top of the list of what we're concerned about. Guys who get caught speeding, it's not the only time they've ever sped. All this stuff's going on. If you add it up with the NBA and college the past two years, there's a lot of instances. So there's probably more that weren't reported."
  • "I have not legitimately wondered, but we all talk about it all the time when there are strange collapses!"
  • "To me, it is the world we live in. The access to gambling for the players. We were all 18-22 years old once and if we had the access these kids have, I'll speak for myself: I didn't make all the right decisions when I was 18. If that is on your phone and you have the ability to bet … it's so prevalent. You can't get away from it for two seconds."
  • "I have not, but have a strong feeling players gamble on other sports. Mainly football." 
  • "There are a few plays every game that are so atrocious it makes you think for a second. But I think that's the level of basketball, 18-year-olds making mistakes." 
  • "No. If I had to recruit a kid where I even had to wonder about that as a possibility, I'd just hang it up as a college coach." 
  • "As a head coach, this has never been a real concern of mine. I do believe I am fortunate that way. This seems to be less of an issue at the highest level because those players are getting paid so much."
  • "Never seriously. It was easy to joke about a few years ago, now it is a nightmare situation. The ease at which bets can be placed now for anyone, much less student-athletes, is scary for our business."
  • "I've never suspected a player of gambling. I've always had good enough relationships or been with other assistants that have relationships with all of our players. And you know what they do in off time. Because of how recruiting has changed, you will see a lot more of it. Coaches have gotten lazier because of the portal and don't spend as much time cultivating those relationships IMO!" 
  • "No, but I probably should have." 

Coaches who said 'yes'

  • "I have worried for years of my players being pressured due to gambling. Everyone should be."  
  • "Always wonder after they make stupid plays during the game. Sometimes you wonder if they are point-shaving."
  • "Never in the moment. After the fact, once the Temple allegations from a few years ago surfaced, it was a retroactive wondering of what games were actually compromised. Being in the same league at the time and having conference tournament seedings based on those outcomes over the course of that season — and with careers being tied to results — makes for a lot of unanswered questions. Were they trying to win when we played them? Would they have been seeded that way in the conference tournament if they would have tried to win every game? Wild stuff."
  • "Sometimes guys play so shitty that you question it."
  • "This sentence has come out of my mouth: 'This kid has the f---ing over on turnovers!!"
  • "I wonder every day. Especially in speed-dating [with the portal]. Not knowing at previous spots what they were exposed to. I have no idea, but I pray every day that these guys don't make life-altering decisions because of greed."
  • "When I was a D-III coach my staff got wind that there was a local bookie taking action on D-III football and basketball games. This particular bookie was from the same area as some of our guys and friends with them on social media. We never found that they were actually gambling, but ever since then my antennas have been up. About 10 years have passed since and I have been suspicious of a few guys along the way."
  • "I have wondered but only one time. That player is still playing in the NCAA lol."
  • "One player I coached I have had serious questions. Needless to say, he was a problem off the court in every area imaginable as well." 
  • "Never had a concern until prop bets. Way easier to control the individual outcome as opposed to the overall outcome." 
  • "Yes, sad to say more than once. It surrounds all of these athletes at a level we have never seen before! They really need to make sure a number of the players involved in the most recent scandal get the maximum punishment as a reminder of the serious consequences that will occur."
  • "It used to be my classic go-to when a player did something on the court that was bone-headed and seemed to sabotage our chances of winning a game. 'You're point shaving.' I guess you can't go there any more. It used to be a funny way of saying you're out to lunch. In 2026, it might mean … you. are. point. shaving."

The takeaway

Here's your headline: Nearly 100 coaches surveyed and more than 1-in-4 told us they've seriously wondered if at least one of the players they've coached has been on the take.

That's an ALARMING ratio, and an honest return on something that should capture the attention of everyone across college basketball — and at the NCAA level right here, right now. Access to gambling opportunities has never been more prevalent or easier. Advertisements are unavoidable if you consume sports, even on a casual basis, in this country.

So it's no surprise that we've had sporadic instances of athletes getting busted for game-fixing and illegal wagering on their own teams.

Near the end of my interview process, one of the last coaches I spoke to, a head coach in the Big Ten, asked me how many coaches answered yes to this question (after he answered no). I told him my return at that point was around 20% in the affirmative.

The coach was thrown. 

"That's a serious, serious problem," he said. 

Now, a lot of the coaches surveyed had blunt and/or casual "no" answers. The idea of one of their players actually engaging in this kind of activity has never entered their mind. But, uh, this should be the baseline expectation. So for more than 25% of our polling population to at least admit to having seriously wondered about it, this feels close to a genuine crisis. Given how much time these coaches spend with their players, how well they know the flows of the game of basketball ... it probably stands to reason that at least a few of those coaches may have been onto something, only for a player here or there to have never been caught. 

The other interesting angle on this: Three mid-major coaches CBS Sports polled answered in the negative, but said there were instances where they thought in real time — or were curious while watching the tape afterward — if a player on an opposing team was on the take.

"Around the time many of these stories popped up this spring/summer, I was re-watching several of our games from the past year," one coach said. "Some players played so poorly at times that I did actually wonder if they had been compromised."

Said another: "During games I always wonder what on earth an opposing player on the other team is doing with some of his decision-making, so that raises an eyebrow during the game, but never on my own team." 

Probably a dozen coaches I spoke with brought up something that's simultaneously obvious and yet still under-discussed: Eliminating the possibility of players fixing games or artificially adjusting their own stat lines to clear a bet needs to consistently be at the top of the priority list in college athletics. One big serious afternoon seminar in the preseason is not sufficient. This is not an issue that can drift off the radar or be put on the back-burner, ever. There needs to be continual tracking and quality control done at these schools, with constant visual reminders in the offices and hallways that all of this can and will be monitored. Relying on third-party watchdog firms (which do incredible data work) isn't good enough.

If a sport does not carry true credibility of its competitions, then it has nothing. If the games are proven or presumed to be compromised due to crooked participants, everything falls apart. The enterprise dissolves.

College basketball is as vulnerable, if not the most vulnerable, of any major American team sport due to how many athletes (nearly 5,000) and Division I programs (365). Hundreds of mid- and low-major schools can be a breeding ground for players looking to make more money in a gambling-drenched culture. And given how rich a lot of high-major players are in this era, it stands to reason there will be players at lower levels who look from afar with some envy before turning to other methods to try and increase their personal payouts.

The NCAA, for its part, has remained dogged in its pursuit of overseeing and doing its best to surveil game-fixing. But one game altered is one too many. And there's already been far too many scares, as detailed at the top of this story. When will we get the next one? Whenever it happens, no one can say they're surprised. The gambling spigot in this country is not getting turned off. And now we know there's too much suspicion looming throughout college basketball. 

At a time when there's never been more upheaval to the college sports model, dismissing, downplaying or ignoring the ever-present temptation of game-fixing would be the biggest mistake of all.

Previously in 2026 Candid Coaches

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