Former Iona basketball star banned for life in NCAA betting scandal
Former Iona University men’s basketball standout Adam Njie Junior has been permanently ruled ineligible for NCAA competition after admitting to major sports betting integrity violations involving known bettors, in one of the most serious college basketball gambling cases in recent years.
The NCAA announced Thursday that Njie violated sports betting rules by providing game-related information to bettors and discussing plans to manipulate the first half of two Iona games during the 2024-25 season.
According to the NCAA’s negotiated resolution, the violations came to light during a wider gambling investigation after enforcement staff interviewed a source in July and September 2025 connected to a separate betting case.
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That source revealed one of two known bettors had communicated directly with Njie.
Investigators later worked with gambling regulators to trace suspicious betting activity tied to Iona games. The Mississippi Gaming Commission identified three wagers totaling $15,500 placed on Rice to cover the first-half spread against Iona in December 2024.
Njie admitted telling a bettor he would intentionally throw the first half of that game, but went on to tell investigators he never actually followed through.
After the bettor lost money on the wager, the NCAA said Njie was threatened with bodily harm. In response, Njie allegedly told the bettor he would throw the first half of Iona’s next game against Sacred Heart to recover the losses.
Once again, Njie told investigators he never intentionally manipulated the game.
Despite the absence of evidence showing the games were actually fixed, the NCAA treated the conduct as a major integrity violation equivalent to point shaving.
“The act of sharing information with a bettor is prohibited by NCAA legislation and is treated the same as point shaving from an NCAA enforcement perspective,” the NCAA said.
The violations were classified as Level I, the NCAA’s most serious category.
Njie’s case highlights the growing integrity risks facing college sports as legal sports betting expands across the United States and wagering-related investigations intensify.
The 6-foot-2 guard emerged as one of Iona’s brightest young players during the 2024-25 season, averaging 12.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.8 rebounds while earning MAAC All-Rookie honours.
He later transferred to University of Dayton ahead of the 2025-26 season but never played after the school was alerted to eligibility concerns linked to the NCAA investigation.
At the time, Dayton athletic director Neil Sullivan said the university had been notified of “potential eligibility concerns” related to matters that occurred before Njie enrolled.
Njie later left Dayton and signed with Hampton in May, but Thursday’s ruling effectively ends his NCAA career.
The scandal is the latest major betting controversy to hit American sport, drawing comparisons with past point-shaving cases including the infamous 1951 CCNY scandal and the 1978 Boston College case.
The scandal adds to growing concerns over sports betting integrity, coming shortly after Jontay Porter received a lifetime NBA ban for gambling-related violations.
Federal prosecutors are also pursuing charges against the bettors linked to Njie’s case, with both men indicted in January on wire fraud and bribery charges tied to sports contests.
The case underscores growing concern around the influence of sports betting on college athletes, particularly as regulators, leagues and betting sites step up integrity monitoring across the US sports landscape.
