Wetzel: Don't blame the stigma of the ring for changing people.It's just greed.

These players arrogantly betrayed their common sense, their teammates and, ultimately, themselves, Wetzel said.

After applying charges that led to 26 arrests and the opening of a college basketball shaving scheme that has infected many sports in the last two years, US.There.Attorney David Metcalf offered some perspective.

"There have been a lot of these gambling cases recently," Metcalfe said.“I will say that the evidence in this case shows that the monetization of college sports, with the liberalization and expansion of sports betting markets, and the normalization of sports compensation, has driven the business….

"But it's complicated, isn't it?"Metcalfe continued.“As we allege in the prosecution, some players were targeted because they had somehow missed their NIL and were targeted so that they could top up their NIL compensation.

I don't know if they are going to commit a specific offense based on paying other athletes.

Metcalfe and his colleagues from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, not to mention the FBI, seem to have done a great job here.

Each defendant is presumed innocent in court, but anyone in the court of public opinion who reads the 70-page indictment is likely to admit that the evidence of abuse is overwhelming.

Too many participants to sustain a conspiracy, too much money at stake in obscure games to stay under the radar, and way, way too many incriminating text messages.

Some athletes' priorities may be skewed by legal sports betting and the fact that college athletes can make a lot of money these days through name, image and likeness.

As Metcalf observes, it's very complicated.

Nor is that an excuse.

If the allegation is true, each athlete knowingly violates the known laws, inherent notions of competition, and basic bonds of team play that exist in everything from D-I basketball to the occasional 2-on-2 game at the park.

You don't need extensive education provided by the NCAA, lectures from coaches or posters in the locker room to know what's right and what's wrong here.

No one should try to cry that it is a changing country.The rise of gambling equipment or the fact that some kid from Duke or Kentucky is making millionaires doesn't stand for bricks and a bunch of first half hits for a comeback.

The NIL is criticized in almost all college sports today. Why not at least avoid this?

It's about personal responsibility.This is about a conscious choice of alleged criminal conduct.

While it's easier to pull the strings on a player without a lucrative NIL deal, recent gambling scandals have plagued NBA and MLB players as well.

It's just society - a few doctors and lawyers and Wall Street types mingling in the prison yard.

And yes, legalized sports betting is common these days, in front of you everywhere you turn, including on ESPN.

Whether legal betting helps or hurts here is complicated in Metcalf's terms.

Big betting sites actually help middlemen like Shane Hennen or Marves Fairley to bet big money on small games, such as $458,000 on multiple game bets on the 2024 A&T Towson-North Carolina championship.

Back in the day, you had to walk into a Las Vegas bookie to place this bet.It would have been rejected immediately.Whatever amount was allowed, it probably wouldn't be worth fixing the result.

Additionally, the growing integrity efforts in sports betting, not to mention sophisticated state and federal regulators, no doubt played a role in flagging these schemes and then bringing charges against the authorities.

Shaving ends is nothing new.Traditionally, organized crime only did this to influence illegal and underground betting.It operated largely in the dark, with no protection and little prosecution.

Legalized betting also made the plan easier to pull off, but also easier to manipulate.This, in turn, should be a cautionary tale.

This case is not about legalized sports betting or NIL offers.

According to the league's narrative, it's about an unwise group of game-fixers who convince individual players to selfishly betray their sanity, their education about the laws in force, their teammates, coaches and parents, and their dream opportunity to try out for college basketball in order to make a quick buck.

They hunt big to chase a bad guy.

That part is not difficult.