INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The hero of Alabama State’s first NCAA Tournament win and three of his teammates on the 2024-25 team were ruled permanently ineligible for accepting payment from gamblers to fix the outcome of a game that season, the NCAA announced Friday.

Amarr Knox, Shawn Fulcher, Corey Hines and Tony Madlock were alleged to have engaged in game manipulation when Alabama State played at Southern Mississippi on Dec. 5, 2024. Southern Miss was a six-point favorite and won 81-64.

According to the NCAA, two known bettors offered the players a total of $2,000 to throw the game. The players accepted and were later paid.

Knox, Hines and Madlock were Alabama State’s top three scorers for the 2024-25 season and Fulcher was a reserve. Knox’s layup with a second left lifted the Hornets to their first NCAA Tournament win, 70-68 over Saint Francis in the 2025 First Four.

The two bettors were indicted in January by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on wire fraud and bribery charges related to sports contests.

The NCAA discovered the game-fixing after Hines transferred to Temple, which notified the enforcement staff that Hines had been contacted by the FBI and shown text messages concerning a sports integrity issue when he was at Alabama State. None of the players was active on a college team last season.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball