The NCAA has permanently disqualified Adam Njie Jr., a former Iona basketball player, following allegations of his involvement in a significant game-fixing scheme. Despite Njie Jr.'s claims that he did not actually engage in point shaving, the NCAA maintains that this is irrelevant to the case.
Njie Jr. was implicated in a federal indictment that surfaced in January, which detailed a widespread corruption scheme in men's college basketball. The NCAA announced last week that Njie Jr. was rendered ineligible after purportedly conspiring to manipulate games during his freshman season in 2024-2025.
Although he cooperated with investigators and acknowledged his violations, Njie Jr. insists he never executed any plans to alter game outcomes for gamblers. He reported being threatened by gamblers following a failed attempt to shave points, which placed him within the same investigation that led to Jontay Porter's fraud conviction and involved former NBA player Terry Rozier, who faces trial for sports bribery in February.
According to the NCAA, Njie Jr.'s alleged involvement was revealed during interviews with a source linked to other cases. This source indicated that Njie Jr. had been approached by two known gamblers regarding point shaving, prompting the Mississippi Gaming Commission to flag three bets totaling $15,000 on a game between Rice and Iona.
In that game, Iona managed to cover the spread, rendering the bets unsuccessful. Njie Jr. asserts that he only provided information to these gamblers before two games but did not follow through on any plans to influence the outcome of a specific match against Rice.
Following the Rice game, the NCAA claims to have found evidence suggesting that Njie Jr. was threatened and assured gamblers he would make up for the losses in a subsequent game against Sacred Heart. However, he did not take any shots in the first half of that game, which Iona lost by a significant margin.
The NCAA has not disclosed the specific bets gamblers sought to manipulate during the Sacred Heart game. In the broader context of the investigation, prosecutors noted that fixers often targeted NCAA players with the intent of supplementing their income through bribes that would exceed legitimate NIL opportunities.
Ultimately, the NCAA stated that sharing information with a gambler is a violation of its rules, treated similarly to actual point shaving, regardless of whether the athlete followed through with the plan.