A federal investigation into alleged point shaving and game fixing in college basketball is nearing its end, Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde and Michael Rosenberg reported. The inquiry is focused on “Southern Schools,” according to SI.

Investigators from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania conducted interviews with players suspected of influencing their performances as gamblers wagered on games. SI cited a source who said, “There are going to be charges.” The same source said multiple players and programs will be involved as part of a “national scope.”

The investigation centered on a ring that was involved with Jontay Porter, the former NBA player who was banned for life for gambling in 2024, according to SI. Additionally, the office is looking into unusual wagering activity on Malik Beasley’s games during the 2023-24 season. Beasley has not been charged with any crime.

SI reported the ring charged in Porter’s case was connected to at least college basketball games over the last two seasons. Five teams had wagers flagged on their games, and the NCAA is investigating programs such as New Orleans, Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and Temple.

ESPN’s David Purdum previously reported Eastern Michigan, Mississippi Valley State and North Carolina A&T were all part of the reported betting ring. Purdum reported in the case of Eastern Michigan and North Carolina A&T, both were flagged for suspicious activity by “betting integrity monitors” for wagers regarding first-half spreads.

Eastern Michigan’s games against Wright State and Central Michigan last season came into question. In both cases, the Eagles went into the locker room behind. They came back to beat Wright State, but came up short against CMU.

Just one game was mentioned by Purdum for North Carolina A&T – Jan. 9 against Delaware. In the first-half, the line moved up to Delaware -3.5 from -2 ahead of tip while the full-game line remained at -4. The Blue Hens would go on to cover that spread, leading by six at the half.

Additionally, in 2023-24, Temple and Loyola Maryland came under review for suspicious wagering activity. Loyola Maryland played its final game of the season against Navy – a 64-48 loss in the Patriot League Tournament.

That meant the Greyhounds’ season ended with a 7-26 overall record and a 5-13 mark in conference play. One day later, head coach Tavaras Hardy announced he was stepping down, although that decision was not related to the gambling situation.

News of the Loyola Maryland situation came less than 24 hours after another emerged involving Temple. The Owls took on UAB in their penultimate regular season game. After the Blazers opened as 1.5-point favorites, though, the spread ballooned to eight or 8.5, depending on the book.

UAB went on to win the game 100-72 at Temple, and watchdog U.S. Integrity sent an alert to casinos about suspicious activity involving the game.

When the NCAA allowed college athletes to transfer once without the penalty of having to sit out a year, players were offered an opportunity to seek fresh starts elsewhere while benefitting from the kind of unrestrained mobility coaches had enjoyed for decades.

It is more important than ever for college athletes to develop a strategy that enables them to make use of their name, image and likeness amid the rapidly evolving framework for college sports. With the fourth anniversary of NCAA rules permitting college athletes to make money from the commercial use of their NIL just behind us, the newly approved House v. NCAA settlement, state legislation and proposed federal legislation continue to change the field. Here are four important guidelines for athletes interested in making the most of a rich landscape.

1. Opportunities are everywhere

The NIL era opened the floodgates for college athletes, with a rush of businesses and brands seeking to partner with college athletes to reach their target audiences and consumers. Though the first few years have been described as “chaotic” or “unstable,” constant change in the marketplace means financial opportunity for college athletes willing to embrace it.

With College Football Playoff Championships often clearing 25 million viewers, and this year’s men’s March Madness championship topping 18 million, partnering with athletes is a no-brainer for brands of all sizes. Opportunities for athletes (especially those with social media followings) to partner with brands and businesses continue to grow. According to a SponsorUnited report, the last school year saw more than 3,000 branding deals for athletes with more than 1,700 brands.

We were encouraged to learn in a recent visit to a top-tier college athletic program that some schools are building dedicated internal staffing and resources to help their athletes source and fulfill branding deals. Athletes who are supported and encouraged by their programs to build their own personal brands, when they’re well advised with respect to properly monetizing NIL revenue stream, are less likely to enter the transfer portal solely in pursuit of increased economic opportunity. This financial benefit to individual athletes provides structure and the opportunity to better develop programs over multiple seasons, rather than risking the disruption caused by annual transfers.

2. Explore interests and plan for the future

NIL deals are great for exploring personal interests, pursuing passions and furthering self-expression, and industry leaders traditionally reserve substantial resources on their balance sheets and budget plans for branding and sponsorship deals. If an athlete loves video games, it’s a roughly $200 billion global industry; in the last year alone, there have been notable college athlete partnerships to support Activision’s Call of Duty, Epic Games’ Fortnite and of course, EA Sports College Football 26.

Athletes and their schools should think broadly about what is important to them in developing their personal brands and how those brands might complement their athletic and professional aspirations. Many athletes prioritize community and ethics in their NIL deals, leveraging their position to give back to social causes. For example, Simone Biles walked away from a lucrative deal with a major brand to pursue an opportunity with Athleta that focused on uplifting and celebrating women athletes.

Because this is still a new playing field, brands are still learning how to properly leverage partnerships with college athletes. Local businesses that may not have traditionally marketed through endorsements are participating for the first time in massive numbers because of the intense regional fandom that college athletics inspires. This is an opportunity to help these businesses dip their toes into the space and set up college athletes, more broadly, for longer-term participation in this evolving new world.

Athletes should remember to think long term. There are benefits to networking and learning tools to use for the future, or even an eventual transition to a career on the business side of sports. Branding partnerships could open the door to future job opportunities, personal development, and business building. This can be especially important for college athletes unlikely to play professionally after school.

3. Know your worth

Any good lawyer knows that the first offer for a branding deal is not the best offer. Athletes should not necessarily settle for the first proposal put in front of them.

And they should not negotiate in a vacuum. Athletes should be encouraged to talk to professional representatives about market rates for similar deals. They can also research other celebrities who work with a brand to see if there is any information on what they earn, or other ideas for what they want from a partnership. Coming to the table with statistics about the program’s media reach and viewer figures can help sell partnerships. Precedent is important, too — initial deals set the stage for the next one, and the price should be higher next season.

Further, “knowing your worth” isn’t just about a dollar figure. The quantity of social posts is a key deal point. It is not to an athlete’s advantage to flood social media pages with excessive posting — it dilutes the poster’s brand and makes people tune them out.

Exclusivity is extremely important — any exclusivity agreement should be thoughtfully time-capped and limited to the product’s exact narrow category. For example, exclusivity for “athletic outerwear, excluding footwear and headwear” leaves open much more opportunity for other partnerships versus a deal that is exclusive for “clothing.”

4. Don’t fly solo — engage professional advisers

Athletes should not do it alone; they should engage competent, experienced and skilled advisers. Athletes who are not properly represented may be at a serious disadvantage, because they will not know the fair market value of their deals, what to ask for on other deal terms and other strategic considerations. As discussed above, these deals are not just about the dollar amount — exclusivity considerations, and the broader career strategy, can sometimes be even more important.

An experienced sports and entertainment attorney can help with all of the issues discussed here. Experienced counsel knows the industries at play — branding, entertaining, acting, modeling, entrepreneurship, investing, negotiating — inside and out. They can handle the business while college athletes focus on their already-full plate of school and sports and are essential to help athletes meet their full potential, in college exploring NIL, and beyond.

Binta Niambi Brown and John Meller are partners and Jacob Barroway is an associate at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP.