Three University of Texas at El Paso basketball players have been dismissed from the team and are no longer enrolled at the school after an FBI investigation revealed the three had been involved in gambling on sports games, the university acknowledged Tuesday.
Questions about point-shaving arose after leading scorer McKenzie Moore and reserve Jalen Ragland were suspended from the team indefinitely last month. Neither played in the team’s last two games.
The FBI launched an investigation into the program after the school received a tip late last month, and UTEP announced Tuesday that Moore and Ragland, along with reserve Justin Crosgile, had been gambling on athletic events, according to ESPN. The school released a statement saying there was no point-shaving involved and that the three hadn’t bet on any Miners events.
“To date, there was no indication that point-shaving was involved. However, per NCAA rules, any type of sports gambling is prohibited and results in a one-year suspension and loss of a year of eligibility,” the school said in the statement. “All three players are upperclassmen, and therefore their college basketball careers are over. They are no longer enrolled at UTEP and are no longer a part of our basketball program.”
Moore, a junior, was averaging 13.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. Ragland was averaging 3.7 points, while Crosgile was averaging 5.4 points.
UTEP takes on Charlotte on Thursday.
