The Alleged $40,000 Bet

“This money guaranteed.” Jalen Smith sent that message to Simeon Cottle, according to an indictment excerpt reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while asking that both players appear on FaceTime twice that day. Prosecutors alleged that former NBA player Antonio Blakeney contacted Cottle and that Cottle then recruited teammates into a betting conspiracy. The alleged chain began before the indictment connected Cottle to Kennesaw State's March 1, 2024 game against Queens University Charlotte.

Courthouse News reported that prosecutors accused Cottle of taking a $40,000 bribe to underperform in the first half of that game. The Associated Press reported that prosecutors described gamblers recruiting players and promising substantial payments in exchange for purposefully underperforming. Courthouse News also reported that alleged payments typically ranged from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.

S5 reported that fixers later traveled to athletes' campuses to deliver cash bribes. The indictment's alleged method therefore included a direct handoff after players were recruited. Kennesaw State lost the Queens game 91-82, a recorded result that does not establish why the game was lost.

The indictment was unsealed Thursday in Philadelphia federal court, Courthouse News reported. It charged 26 people in an international betting scheme involving NCAA and Chinese Basketball Association games. The Queens contest was the game identified in the charges against Cottle and Demond Robinson.

The Associated Press reported that the charges involved bribery in sporting contests and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Those charges describe prosecutors' allegations, not a conviction or an established game fix. The case placed the alleged payment, recruitment, and underperformance in the same federal charging document.

After the indictment, Kennesaw State officials suspended Cottle indefinitely from all team activities, the Associated Press reported. The university's action removed him from the program's team activities while the federal case proceeded.