Why I agreed to point-shaving scheme: College player details role in betting plot

Cedquavious “Dae Dae” Hunter, who was banned from the NCAA for his role in a point-shaving scheme, is speaking out for the first time.

Hunter sat down with “Good Morning America” for an interview and detailed why he chose to participate in the scheme.

“I just had a child,” the emotional Hunter told ABC’s Will Reeve. “The school wasn’t paying me money. So, like I was trying to get money to actually take care of my child.”

An NCAA investigation found that Hunter, who was a junior at New Orleans University at the time, intentionally manipulated his performance to benefit a Las Vegas bettor in at least seven games during the 2024-25 college basketball season.

Hunter and his teammates, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent, were offered $5,000 in exchange for their participation in the scheme, according to the investigation.

The three players were overheard by another student athlete discussing their plan to stop scoring near the end of a game on Dec. 28 2024 against McNeese State.

The spread for that game was 23.5 points and New Orleans lost by 25 with Hunter shooting 1-for-4 in just 14 minutes.

After initially lying to the NCAA about his involvement, Hunter eventually came clean.

“I was trying to lie because I thought I was going to get my way out of it,” Hunter said.

He didn’t get out of it. And now the Mississippi native and his teammates are no longer enrolled at New Orleans University per the NCAA.

Hunter is the latest athlete in the college or professional ranks whose life has been turned upside down for their involvement in an illegal betting scheme.

The NBA was rocked by an illegal betting ring allegedly involving Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, former assistant coach Damon Jones and Heat guard Terry Rozier.

All three were arrested as part of a wide-ranging FBI investigation into a mafia-run illegal poker ring that Billups and Jones are accused of participating in.

Rozier was accused of giving information to bettors and removing himself from games to benefit them.

Less than a month later, Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted for their involvement in an alleged scheme to alter their pitches in an attempt to enrich bettors who wagered on their props in exchange for money.

In each case, the athletes realized too late that the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.

When asked what he would say to his child when they grow up and find out what he did, Hunter was blunt.

“Don’t do what daddy did,” he said.