United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania David Metcalf explains why the Department of Justice is stepping in on a basketball point-shaving scheme. (0:46) A college basketball point-shaving scheme involving more than 39 players on 17 NCAA Division I teams resulted in dozens of games in the previous two seasons being fixed by a gambling ring that included a former NBA player, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Twenty of the 26 defendants played college basketball during the 2023-24 and/or 2024-25 seasons, according to the indictment. Four of the players charged -- Simeon Cottle, Carlos Hart, Camian Shell and Oumar Koureissi -- have played for their current teams in the past week. The allegations against Hart, Shell and Koureissi stem from their previous schools, while Cottle's alleged incident occurred in the 2023-24 season. None of the allegations against them were from this season. Eastern Michigan said in a statement that Hart has been suspended from all team activities pending the outcome of the case while Kennesaw State announced that Cottle has been suspended indefinitely from team activities. Abilene Christian Alabama State Buffalo Coppin State DePaul Eastern Michigan Fordham Kennesaw State La Salle New Orleans Nicholls State North Carolina A&T Northwestern State Robert Morris Saint Louis Southern Miss Tulane Cottle, the Conference USA preseason player of the year for Kennesaw State, is averaging a team-high 20.2 points per game this season. He scored 21 points, including five of the final eight points of the game, in the Owls' win over Florida International on Wednesday. Authorities described five defendants as "fixers," who recruited players to participate in the scheme and offered bribes ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 to intentionally underperform. The bettors then placed and won millions of dollars in wagers on the fixed games, according to prosecutors. At least two of the defendants, Shane Hennen and Marves Fairley, were also charged in a federal indictment in the Eastern District of New York centered on gambling schemes in the NBA. Three of the other alleged fixers had connections in college basketball. The defendants are charged with bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The alleged fixers are also charged with additional counts of wire fraud. The bribery charges carry a maximum sentence of five years. The fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 20 years. Fairley's attorney Eric Siegle told ESPN on Thursday that he was reviewing the indictment and had no further comment. An attorney for Hennen did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Former NBA player Antonio Blakeney was named but not charged in the indictment. Blakeney allegedly was part of the group that recruited players to participate in the scheme and offered bribes, and he has been charged separately. Blakeney was a star at LSU before playing two seasons with the Chicago Bulls (2017-19). He has since played overseas in China and Israel. The scheme, according to the 70-page indictment, began around September 2022 and initially focused on fixing Chinese Basketball Association games, where Blakeney was a leading scorer. Blakeney allegedly manipulated his own performance and recruited other players from his team to join. Hennen, according to the indictment, texted a co-conspirator a few weeks after a fixed CBA game, "Nothing guaranteed in this world but death, taxes and Chinese basketball." The group began targeting college basketball ahead of the 2023-24 season, prosecutors say. According to the indictment, the fixers targeted players "for whom the bribe payments would meaningfully supplement or exceed legitimate NIL opportunities." In a news conference Thursday, U.S. Attorney David Metcalf said that as the group expanded the scheme to college basketball, it intentionally recruited fixers who had connections in the sport. "They picked these men because they were well connected in the world of college basketball," Metcalf said. "Trainers, recruiters, networkers, people of influence, and because of that influence, they added gravitas and legitimacy to the scheme." Following the release of the indictment, NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the NCAA enforcement staff has opened betting integrity investigations into approximately 40 players from 20 schools over the past year, including "almost all of the teams in today's indictment." "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," Baker said. "We urge all student-athletes to make well-informed choices to avoid jeopardizing the game and their eligibility." Among the Wagers listed in the indictment*Approximately $458,000 on Towson to beat UNC A&T*Approximately $424,000 on Kent State to cover the first-half spread against Buffalo* $275,000 on South Alabama to cover the first-half spread of against Southern Miss* $256,000 on... pic.twitter.com/ErZlshW632 *A wager of $ 168,300 on the Guangdong Southern Tigers*Attempted $50,000 wager at a casino in Kentucky on Southern Mississippi to beat Alabama State* $30,000 first-half line wager on St. Bonaventure over La Salle* $52,395 on St. John's to cover the first-half spread against... Former Kennesaw State guard Demond Robinson was charged along with Cottle. The indictment alleges that one of the fixers sent Cottle and Robinson a picture of approximately $100,000 in cash ahead of Kennesaw State's game against Queens University on March 1, 2024. Cottle, Robinson and an unnamed third person received $40,000 for their alleged participation in the scheme, according to the indictment. Prosecutors allege that athletes also tried to recruit other players to the scheme. According to the indictment, Bradley Ezewiro, a center at Saint Louis who allegedly threw a game against Duquesne, texted one of the accused fixers, Jalen Smith, a screenshot of DePaul forward Da'Sean Nelson's stats and said, "Worst team in the big east," and "he ready to tap in." Smith responded, "Already got him." According to prosecutors, Nelson and three teammates -- Jalen Terry, Micawber Etienne and an unnamed player -- allegedly agreed to underperform in three games in 2024, against Georgetown, Butler and St. John's. Fairley and other bettors wagered at least $27,000 on Georgetown to cover the first-half spread of the Feb. 24 game, according to the indictment. Georgetown ended the first half up 41-28. Terry scored zero points in the first half and 16 in the second. Around halftime, Smith allegedly texted Etienne about paying the bribes and said, "I love Jalen terry he perfected his job ... Sh- Nelson snapped too." The next day, Smith traveled to Chicago to pay $40,000 in cash to the four players, according to the indictment. Hennen, Fairley and their betting associates also wagered more than $52,000 that DePaul would not cover the first-half spread against St. John's, according to the indictment. Terry did not score in the first half, and Nelson scored four points. Smith texted Etienne during the game to complain about another player, who was not involved in the scheme, playing well, according to the indictment. Etienne responded that he and the other allegedly compromised players would keep the ball away from that player, prosecutors say. Nelson and Terry are charged in the indictment, while Etienne has been charged separately. Metcalf described the scheme as "very successful," despite the fact that some attempts to fix games did not pan out. For instance, Fairley, Hennen and others wagered at least $195,000 that Fordham would not cover the spread against Duquesne on Feb. 23, 2024, according to the indictment. Fordham forward Elijah Gray and an unnamed teammate allegedly attempted to underperform, but the Rams still won the game. Afterward, Gray allegedly texted Smith, "I tried," adding that Duquesne did not play well. Smith allegedly responded, "You did your job for sure." Gray, who transferred to Wisconsin before this season then was dismissed from the team in October, was charged in a separate filing. "In basketball, one player can substantially influence a game," Metcalf said. "But it's not a guarantee." The college basketball indictment is the latest in a string of sports betting scandals. In the past two years, cases of events allegedly being manipulated have surfaced in the NBA, Major League Baseball and UFC. "The monetization of college athletics and athletics generally through the liberalization and proliferation of sports betting markets, as well as the normalization of compensation in athletics, furthered the enterprise in this case," Metcalf said. On Thursday, Baker sent a letter to state gambling regulators asking for laws to be adjusted to better protect players and the integrity of the games, specifically calling for the elimination of prop betting. Metcalf added in his news conference that the victims in this case range far beyond people who lost money betting on games. "Victims in this case span every sector of American life," Metcalf said. "The fans, the honest athletes, the teammates of these players who are working their tail off. ... Everyone is victimized by that." Information from ESPN's Jeff Borzello was used in this report.