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Former North Carolina A&T guard Julius Reese says he wants his name cleared from a gambling investigation.
Federal investigators were looking into an illegal gambling ring’s unusual wagering on North Carolina A&T basketball.
Earlier last year, Reese, along with two others, were suspended indefinitely for violating team rules by Coach Monté Ross shortly after the federal investigation.
At least nine men’s college basketball games played by NC A&T, Eastern Michigan, and Mississippi Valley State University. Sportsbook accounts connected to a gambling ring bet against those schools.
According to ESPN, “Sportsbook sources in the U.S. and offshore pointed to suspicious betting on the first half of a Jan. 9 game involving North Carolina A&T and Delaware.”
Confirmation that the Greensboro HBCU was under scrutiny had proven to be a losing proposition.
NC A&T chancellor James R. Martin II and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Earl M. Hilton III did not respond to multiple emails seeking comment on the investigatory allegations at the time.
Meghan Durham Wright, NCAA associate director of communications, provided the athletic association’s boilerplate response:
"Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current, pending or potential investigations. However, the NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition. The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever reports are received."
And now Reese is speaking out.
“I want to clear up any confusion surrounding my name.” That set the tone for a message aimed at separating himself from the scandal that touched his former program.
“Throughout the ongoing NCAA gambling investigation, my name has been mentioned, and I was suspended,” Reese wrote. “I want to be clear — I was not involved in any gambling activity and did not violate any NCAA rules.”
Forrest and Glasper failed to cooperate with its investigation. As a result, the NCAA said both those players are now ineligible,
“This situation has affected me in both challenging and positive ways,” Reese wrote. He said seeing his name attached to something he says he had no part in was “frustrating and difficult.”
Still, Reese said the ordeal changed him. “At the same time, it pushed me to grow — mentally tougher, more disciplined, and more focused on controlling what I can control,” he wrote. He added, “I’ve handled everything with patience and maturity, and I continue to move forward with a clear mindset.”
- Ean Lamb, Gambling911.com
