Big 12 basketball made an appearance in perhaps the wildest story of the year thus far, as Sports Illustrated’s Micahel Rosenberg and Pat Forde delved into what they describe as “one of the most pervasive point-shaving scandals in North American sports history.”
Shane Hennen was arrested last month in a Las Vegas airport attempting to flee the country and was reportedly detained while in possession of multiple cell phones and nearly $10,000 in cash. His orchestration of a giant gambling ring tied to professional and college basketball is set to potentially set the sports world on fire.
Several notable games and athletes are potentially tied into this developing story, ranging from names like Terry Rozier to March Madness games like Drake vs. Murray State.
According to his publicly available betting slips, Hennen wagers north of $2 million dating back to 2020. One of the college basketball games he bet an outrageous amount on was a Big 12 contest back in 2023.
On March 4, 2023, Hennen wagered $155,700 on two first-half college basketball spreads: $85,700 on Tennessee’s first-half spread against Auburn and $70,000 on Iowa State’s first-half spread against Baylor.
A quick look back at that game provides a fair question—did Hennen know something that Vegas didn’t?
The seventh-ranked Bears entered that game as a 7.5-point favorite, yet found itself down by a whopping 15 points at halftime to Iowa State. Likewise, Auburn was a 2.5-point favorite over Tennessee, but trailed by four points at the half that day.
Did someone tip Hennen off about those games? Did their extenuating circumstances play a factor?
All of it is bound to come out as the investigation unfolds, but as of now, it looks like at least one Big 12 game might be a part of one of the craziest betting stories in sports.
