The NCAA permanently banned former Abilene Christian men's basketball player Airion Simmons on Friday after saying he colluded with a teammate and agreed with a bettor to throw a March 2024 game for money. The Division I Committee on Infractions said Simmons also told investigators he was contacted by a second bettor about losing the game for cash.
The ban lands with force because Simmons is already tied to a federal case. In January, he and two bettors were included in a Pennsylvania indictment on charges that included bribery, fraud and conspiracy. The NCAA said a former Abilene Christian men's basketball student-athlete reported in September 2025 that Simmons and another teammate tried to bring him into the scheme, and later the same group, along with a bettor, called him on FaceTime and told him to throw the game for money.
Simmons, who played at Abilene Christian from 2019 to 2024, told NCAA investigators he had a hand injury and his status for the game was unclear. He said he was offered $3,500 to play bad in the game, then left after 11 minutes with the injury. He also told investigators he met someone in a Dallas parking lot to get cash for throwing the game, received the money and did not pay the other student-athletes he had conspired with, according to the NCAA.
The case sits inside a broader point-shaving scheme that the NCAA says involved gamblers recruiting players to underperform in exchange for payment. Officials said other players in the scheme were pushed to play badly, sit out or keep the ball away from teammates who were not involved. Simmons agreed to be interviewed by NCAA investigators but declined to take part in the processing of the case, leaving the committee to act on the record it had in hand.
The ruling follows permanent bans handed down last month to two former Fordham basketball players, another sign that college sports regulators are moving more aggressively against game-fixing and betting-related misconduct. For Simmons, the NCAA’s decision shuts the door on his college eligibility and places his name alongside a growing list of players whose careers have been ended by gambling scandals.
