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Two former Eastern Michigan basketball players and one current player have been indicted as part of a federal investigation into point shaving in the Chinese Professional Basketball league and college basketball.

Former Eastern Michigan basketball players Da'Sean Nelson and Jalen Terry and current guard Carlos Hart, a redshirt senior who previously played for South Georgia State, New Orleans and Valdosta State, have been indicted.

The indictment, filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday, Jan. 14, lists Nelson, Terry and Hart among 39 college basketball players across 17 mid-major programs involved in a large-scale point-shaving scheme from 2022-25. Twenty of those players have been indicted including the three connected to Eastern Michigan.

Nelson and Terry were two of three Eastern Michigan players who refused to cooperate in the NCAA's January 2025 investigation into point shaving across various Eastern Michigan basketball games in the 2024-25 season, while Hart just joined the team this season.

Hart has been suspended from all team activities, per the University.

The third player who refused to cooperate in the investigation, former player Jalin Billingsley, was not listed in the indictment.

Without initial cooperation from the three players, who all ran out of NCAA eligibility after the 2024-25 season, the NCAA was unable to confirm any allegations of improper betting.

Hart, who is accused of participating in the scheme while playing for New Orleans in the 2023-24 season, transferred to Eastern Michigan for the 2025-26 season and is not alleged to have participated in the plot while playing for the Eagles.

"Eastern Michigan University has been made aware of a federal indictment involving two former men’s basketball student‑athletes who left the university last year, as well as one current student‑athlete," the University said in a statement made to the Free Press.

Eastern Michigan Eagles guard Carlos Hart (2) attempts a 3-point shot against Cincinnati Bearcats guard Day Day Thomas (1) in the first half at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati on Nov. 26, 2025.

The University also denied knowledge of Hart's involvement with the betting scheme prior to his transfer to Eastern Michigan.

"The alleged conduct attributed to the current student‑athlete in the indictment occurred prior to his enrollment at Eastern Michigan University, while he was attending another institution. Eastern was not aware of any allegations of this nature during the recruitment process. He has been immediately suspended from all team activities at EMU pending the outcome of the case, and the university has initiated its student conduct process as well.

BACKSTORY: Former Eastern Michigan basketball players refused to aid in NCAA gambling investigation

"The conduct described in the indictment stands in direct opposition to the values and expectations of Eastern Michigan University Athletics."

News first broke of unusual betting activity with Eastern Michigan games on Jan. 17, 2025, when a Jan. 14 game against Central Michigan was flagged. Integrity Compliance 360, a sports betting monitoring company, spotted its "largest wager to date" on CMU to cover the spread in the first half, triggering the flag.

A previous Eastern Michigan game against Wright State on Dec. 21, 2024, was also flagged for unusual activity. But according to the indictment, these weren't the only Eastern Michigan games from that season to have been fixed by bettors.

DePaul Blue Demons forward Da'Sean Nelson (21) rebounds the ball away from Xavier Musketeers forward Jerome Hunter (2) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game during the second round of the Big East conference tournament, Thursday, March 9, 2023, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

The scheme began with Mississippi resident Marves Fairley and Philadelphia resident Shane Hennen, who according to the indictment, began fixing games in the Chinese Professional Basketball league with former NCAA players starting in September of 2022. Fairley and Hennen soon expanded their scheme to NCAA games, using, among others, North Carolina basketball trainer Jalen Smith as a connection to various college players.

In February of 2024, Smith allegedly reached out to DePaul forward Mac Etienne, who recruited Terry and Nelson to participate in the plan to allow opponents to cover the first-half spread of basketball games. The three players allegedly conspired to underperform in the first half of at least three games, allowing bettors to collect winnings from tens of thousands of dollars in wagers, while the players collected at least $40,000 in bribe payments themselves.

Feb 25, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; DePaul Blue Demons guard Jalen Terry (3) shoots against Marquette Golden Eagles guard Stevie Mitchell (4) during the first half at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Etienne transferred to LaSalle for the 2024-25 season, with both Terry (a Flint native) and Nelson transferring to Eastern Michigan. And when they arrived in Ypsilanti, they allegedly brought the point-shaving scheme with them.

Eastern Michigan men's basketball head coach Stan Heath talks to players during practice at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022.

At least three Eastern Michigan basketball games from the 2024-25 season have been flagged with unusual betting patterns, with two mentioned in the indictment.

The first was an Eastern Michigan game against Oakland University from Nov. 21, 2024, where both Terry and Nelson allegedly agreed to underperform in the first half in exchange for bribes. The Eagles trailed the Grizzlies, 36-28, at halftime, with Terry, who finished the season as Eastern Michigan's leading scorer, recording zero first-half points. Bettors allegedly collected winnings on "thousands of dollars" of wagers on Oakland to cover a minus-four-point, first-half spread.

Eastern Michigan won the game 68-64, with Terry finishing with eight total points and Nelson finishing with 13.

A second game mentioned in the indictment took place on Dec. 21, 2024, with the contest between Eastern Michigan and Wright State showing a similar pattern as the Oakland game. Wright State led 38-27 at halftime, with the alleged bettors betting on Wright State to cover the first-half spread per the indictment.

Once again, the bettors allegedly won their bets as Wright State covered the first-half spread before Eastern Michigan pulled out an 86-82 win.

The third game, the Jan. 14 game against CMU, was the first to be flagged with unusual betting patterns. No Eastern Michigan games from the 2025-26 season were mentioned in the indictment.

It is not clear whether Hart, a Miami native, had a connection with Terry or Nelson before transferring to Eastern Michigan.

Terry (16.6 points per game) and Nelson (16.1 points per game) finished the season as the team's top two scorers. That could've been a reason both were allegedly chosen as conspirators, with Smith allegedly telling Terry that they could all make a lot of money with both players involved in the scheme like they were in the previous season with DePaul.

"Need all yall like last year and it's a lock money super duper good let's work," he allegedly wrote in a text message to Smith.

In a later text message exchange with Smith at the beginning of the season, Terry appeared to show an eagerness to participate in the plot, writing "I'm lowkey pissed we could've did 2 games already" before the Oakland game.

Before the Wright State game, Smith and Terry allegedly had a disagreement about bribe payments before Smith eventually agreed to participate in the first-half betting scheme. As part of their text message exchange, Smith appeared to want to suppress communications between him and Terry.

"We gotta stop ta[l]king so crazy on the text," he allegedly wrote to Terry.

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You can reach Christian at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Eastern Michigan players indicted in alleged point-shaving scheme