The FBI is once again taking a closer look at college basketball. The previous investigation seems silly now. They were trying to ding programs for paying athletes. Schools do that themselves now. This is much more serious.
Federal prosecutors in Philadelphia indicted more than 20 individuals on charges of fixing college basketball games between 2023-25. At least 17 teams and more than 39 players were involved in the scheme. There have been a few NBA players investigated for gambling activities, but this is the largest point-fixing scheme uncovered since the Supreme Court opened the sports gambling floodgates nationwide back in 2018.
Some of those players have seen the court this year. Simeon Cottle was Kennesaw State’s leading scorer, averaging more than 20 points per game. Carlos Hart is averaging 13.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for Eastern Michigan. Both have been suspended indefinitely during the investigation.
The indictment included a few amusing lines from witnesses. “Southern Mississippi was ‘so bad’ that the players were having trouble throwing their own game.” The scheme also reached the Chinese Basketball Association, with one bettor, Shane Hennen, texting his co-conspirator, “Nothing gu[a]rantee[d] in this world but death[,] taxes[,] and Chinese Basketball.”
That’s where the first familiar name comes into play. Ten years ago, Antonio Blakeney was a Kentucky basketball recruit who initially committed to play for Rick Pitino at Louisville. That commitment did not stick for long, flipping to LSU a few weeks later.
During his time as a Louisville recruit, he attended Katina Powell parties. Blakeney was a witness interviewed by the NCAA during the scandal, and his cooperation ultimately led the NCAA to give him the green light to play for the Tigers for two seasons.
Blakeney was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud for allegedly fixing games while playing for the Jiangsu Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association.
While Matt Jones was perusing the list of indictments, he spotted a familiar name, Roderick Winkler from Little Rock, Arkansas. He was charged with bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud.
Longtime KSR fans are probably asking the same question, “Is that the same Rod Winkler?”
In 2014, Michael Qualls’ tip-dunk in the final seconds of overtime secured an upset win for Arkansas over Kentucky. Fans in Fayetteville stormed the court. During the mayhem, Herald-Leader photographer Mark Cornelison captured an image of an Arkansas fan squaring up with Aaron Harrison.
That fan was Rod Winkler. The morning after the game, Matt Jones got Winkler to call into Kentucky Sports Radio to talk about the interaction. It produced one of the most quotable and hilarious interviews in the show’s history.
When asked if he really wanted to go up against the much-bigger Harrison, Winkler said, “I don’t never look at nobody and say I don’t want a part of anything.” Also, “he a man like you a man and I’m a man like he a man.”
Unfortunately, we cannot find the podcast of that infamous interview. It’s also unclear if the Roderick Winkler in this college basketball gambling scandal is the same person who squared up with Aaron Harrison, but how many Rod Winklers are there from Arkansas?
