Airion Simmons Permanently Banned by NCAA for Violating Sports Betting Integrity Rules

Former Abilene Christian men's basketball player Airion Simmons has been deemed permanently ineligible by the NCAA after the organization concluded Friday he violated sports betting integrity rules during his playing career.

Simmons played college basketball for Abilene Christian from 2019 to 2024.

The violation cited by the NCAA took place on March 20, 2024, during Abilene Christian's regular-season finale at Tarleton State.

The resolution released Friday by the NCAA committee of infractions panel stated that Simmons "knowingly provided information to individuals involved in sports wagering activities and agreed to manipulate his performance" during the game.

That game was also cited in the federal indictment involving Simmons that was unsealed in January. Simmons has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bribery in sporting contests as part of that case, per CBS News' Steven Rosenbaum.

According to the NCAA, the organization was alerted to the incident when a former Abilene Christian student who transferred to another DII school reported Simmons and another teammate had "pressured his involvement to get paid to lose a game."

The incident involved two bettors who the NCAA said had received information from Simmons, who indicated Abilene Christian "would lose by more points than the betting spread identified by sportsbook operators."

The first bettor allegedly called Simmons while he was with the transfer student and another teammate and told the three players "to lose the game to make money," according to the infractions committee.

The second bettor allegedly offered Simmons $3,500 to "play bad" in the game, the infractions committee reported.

Simmons told this second bettor that he was dealing with a hand injury and that another teammate would be absent from the game, according to the NCAA.

Simmons ultimately played 11 minutes and shot 0-of-2 from the field against Tarleton State before exiting the game early with a hand injury.

According to the NCAA, Simmons told enforcement staff he met the second bettor after the game to receive cash in a parking lot outside a Dallas mall.

Simmons told the NCAA he kept the money he received and did not give any to his teammates, according to the organization.

According to the NCAA, Simmons "declined to participate" in the organization's processing of his case outside of his interview with enforcement staff in December 2025.

The two bettors involved in the case were indicted alongside Simmons in the case unsealed January in Philadelphia, according to the NCAA.

The fraud charge against Simmons carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, while the bribery charge has a maximum sentence of five years, per Rosenbaum.