Former Fordham Men’s Basketball Players Banned for Roles in Point-Shaving Plan

• Two former Fordham men’s basketball players are now permanently ineligible from NCAA athletics due to game manipulation
• An NCAA investigation revealed Elijah Gray and Will Richardson attempted to manipulate outcomes of a 2024 Fordham matchup
• Gray and Richardson were contacted by a known bettor and former NBA player to underperform against Duquesne on Feb. 23, 2024

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Former Fordham men’s basketball players Elijah Gray and Will Richardson have been ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA after an investigation revealed their involvement in a 2024 point-shaving scheme.

The Division I Committee on Infractions released the decision this week, declaring the two permanently ineligible as a result of violations for potential game manipulation for sports betting.

Gray cooperated with the investigation and clamed he did not ultimately go through with the plan to shave points against a matchup with Duquesne on Feb. 23, 2024, while Richardson did not fully cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation.

Details of Point-Shaving Scandal

According to the NCAA, a third-party with ties to both Gray and Richardson said a known bettor contacted Gray and Richardson under the guise of being an agent for name, image and likeness, and recruited them to underperform in the February 2024 matchup.

The individual, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission, placed a $10,000 bet on Duquesne to defeat Fordham on the Feb. 23, 2024 matchup. The NCAA investigated three individuals who were connected to the bettor on social media, which included both Gray and Richardson.

In a September 2025 interview with enforcement staff, Richardson reported Gray told him someone offered to pay him if Fordham lost the game. In a later interview, Gray acknowledged he exchanged messages with the known bettor and that he and Richardson agreed to throw the game for payments of $10,000 to $15,000 each. A former NBA player also contacted the two student-athletes with details on the point-shaving scheme.

Gray stated he ultimately reconsidered manipulating the game and played with his normal effort, and Fordham won the game by a score of 79-67. The bettor contacted Gray after the matchup to express his disappointment at the win, but Gray said he did not respond to the message and cut off communications with the bettor.

He reported that Richardson continued to communicate with the bettor. When interviewed again in October 2025, Richardson denied participating in the scheme and denied communication with the known bettor and former NBA player. He also denied telling Gray about his enforcement interview, despite call logs indicating the two had communicated the day before Gray’s interview.

As a result, the NCAA said Richardson failed to cooperate with the investigation by knowingly providing false information during the interview and failing to preserve the integrity of the investigation.

Both Moved on From Fordham

Gray agreed that he violated ethical conduct rules by providing information to a known better, though he maintained he did not follow through with the scheme. Gray transferred from Fordham to Temple University and then the University of Wisconsin.

Richardson declined to participate in the processing of the case. He played three seasons for Fordham before transferring to the University of Albany.

Both Gray and Richardson’s violation of ethical conduct are Level I. Richardson’s failure-to-cooperate violations are also Level I.

Part of Larger NCAA Sports Betting Scheme

Gray and Richardson were part of a larger sports betting scheme that resulted in 20 individuals indicted for alleged roles in fixing multiple NCAA basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association games.

The 20 individuals named in the indictment allegedly bribed 39 NCAA athletes on more than 17 NCAA Division I teams, leading to more than 29 games being fixed. According to the indictment, 15 of the individuals in the scheme played NCAA basketball in either the 2023-2024 or 2024-2025 seasons.

Two of the defendants, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, were also included in recent federal indictments for a sports betting scandal that included Chauncey Billups and Terry Rozier.

One of the men named in the indictment is former NBA player Antonio Blakeney, who appeared in 76 games for the Chicago Bulls from 2017 to 2019. He is alleged to accept a bribe while playing for the Jiangsu Dragons team in a March 6, 2023, matchup against the Guandong Southern Tigers. Blakeney, who averaged 32 points per game during the season, only scored 11 points in the Dragons eventual blowout loss.

The Tigers were favored by 11.5 points in the game and defeated the Dragons by a score of 127-96. Hennen and Fairley, and others working for the men, placed large wagers on the Tigers, including at least $198,300 in bets with BetRivers Sportsbook at Rivers Casino in Philadelphia, according to the indictment.

Blakeney also allegedly reported to Hennen and Fairley when he would not be playing in several other Jiangsu Dragons games, and informed the defendants of several other Dragons teammates who would accept bribes to underperform.