Kennesaw State basketball coach Antoine Pettway sounded off on the “predators” that get players involved in illegal betting schemes.
Addressing the allegations against Owls star Simeon Cottle, one of the college hoopsters named in a sweeping point-shaving racket involving more than three dozen players, Pettway called out those that were organizing the gambling schemes.
“”When you’re a grown man, and you’re reaching out to kids that don’t have a lot of bread, don’t have a lot of money, and you’re being a predator online, that’s a problem,” Pettway said. “There’s a lot of dudes on that list that you feel bad for, that they’ve got a long road ahead of them because, in the dark, a grown-up reached out to them and led them down the wrong path.”
Cottle, who was averaging a team-high 20.2 points before the allegations emerged, was among four current college players alongside Carlos Hart (Eastern Michigan), Camian Shell (Delaware State) and Oumar Koureissi (Texas Southern) to be bribed to influence games.
Prosecutors alleged that Cottle was recruited by fixers Jalen Smith, Alberto Laureano and Antonio Blakeney, and that he later recruited former Kennesaw State forward Demond Robinson and another individual in an agreement to underperform in a game for money.
He was suspended indefinitely from team activities after the federal indictment was unsealed.
“I think something needs to be done about these predators that are reaching out to these young dudes in college basketball who don’t have a lot and dangle this money in front of their faces,” Pettway said.
After news of the scandal broke, NCAA president Charlie Baker called for more regulation on collegiate prop bets.
“The Association has and will continue to aggressively pursue sports betting violations in college athletics using a layered integrity monitoring program that covers over 22,000 contests, but we still need the remaining states, regulators and gaming companies to eliminate threats to integrity — such as collegiate prop bets — to better protect athletes and leagues from integrity risks and predatory bettors,” Baker said.
