Antonio Blakeney’s arc: From high school hype to DOJ indictment

Long before Antonio Blakeney was indicted by federal officials for his role in an alleged college basketball point-shaving conspiracy that U.S. Attorney David Metcalf described a blow to “the integrity of sport,” the 29-year old was viewed as one of basketball’s next big attractions.

One of the “fixers” at the heart of the FBI’s probe into a widespread scandal, the scope of which was revealed Thursday, Blakeney once outscored Jalen Brunson and Jaylen Brown in the McDonald’s All-American Game.

Shortly after, Blakeney teamed up with Ben Simmons to inspire hope at LSU. As recently as the 2018-19 season, he dropped 21 points for the Chicago Bulls in a game against the Golden State Warriors, outscoring Kevin Durant.

Against that backdrop, Blakeney’s alleged descent into the seediest rungs of basketball’s criminal underbelly is a particularly tragic saga. 

Now, instead of continuing his professional basketball career in Israel, where he appeared in a game as recently as Sunday, Blakeney could be facing a federal prison sentence. 

The former five-star prospect from the Class of 2015 is alleged to be one of the masterminds behind a network of game-rigging that officials claim more involved more than 39 college basketball players on at least 17 Division I teams conspiring to fix over 29 games. 

In the FBI’s narrative, Blakeney played a pivotal role, beginning when he allegedly fixed Chinese Basketball Association games while playing for the Jiangsu Dragons. From there, his role purportedly changed. Officials believe Blakeney helped recruit college basketball players at low and mid-major schools to rig games.

From prospect to suspect

Before Blakeney became a suspect, he was a major prospect. Ranked the No. 4 shooting guard in his class by 247Sports, he finished his high school career ahead of names like Donovan Mitchell and Dejounte Murray at the position. In an ironic twist of fate, Blakeney’s de-commitment from Louisville before his senior season of high school may have helped Mitchell.

Instead of being pitted against a higher-ranked freshman at his same position, Mitchell entered Louisville with a clear path to playing time and capitalized on it. Meanwhile, Blakeney teamed up with Simmons, his former grassroots circuit teammate, under coach Johnny Jones to give the Tigers a rare level of preseason buzz.

With two five-star freshmen in the fold on the heels of an NCAA Tournament appearance, LSU began the 2015-16 season ranked No. 21 in the AP poll. It was just the the second time since Shaquille O’Neal’s college career that the Tigers cracked the preseason poll.

Blakeney averaged 12.6 points and made the SEC’s all-freshman team, but LSU finished 19-14 and missed the NCAA Tournament. After earning second-team all-SEC honors during his sophomore season, Blakeney turned pro.

An international journey

Though Blakeney carved out a long professional career — mostly overseas — his unmet NBA aspirations and fall from grace are also the product of bad timing. If he’d entered the NBA Draft as a small scoring guard one generation earlier, Blakeney’s odds of being selected and finding a long-term home would have been much greater.

But despite his all-SEC pedigree and undeniable talent, Blakeney lacked the defensive versatility and traditional point guard skills he needed to stick in the modern NBA. After landing with the Bulls as an undrafted free agent on a two-way deal, Blakeney appeared in 76 NBA games from 2017-19 and was the G-League Rookie of the Year for the 2017-18 season after he led the league in scoring with 32 points per game for the Windy City Bulls in 32 games. Blakeney’s per-game averages across the board were stellar: 6.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.2 steals.

“Antonio had an outstanding year,” then-Bulls GM Gar Forman said of Blakeney’s rookie season. He took full advantage of the opportunity to develop his game and skill set.” 

Blakeney was released a year-and-a-half later, in September of 2019, after playing in 57 games that season. He had 396 field goal attempts and only 432 passes in those games, and his poor inefficiency (48.7% true shooting) is likely what led to Chicago’s decision to buy his contract out. 

From there, he landed in the Chinese Basketball Association just before the COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally altered the world. Blakeney returned to the G League for 15 games in the 2020-21 season before heading back overseas. By the 2022-23 season, he was back in China with the Jiangsu Dragons, which is where his role in the FBI’s narrative began.

While playing for Jiangsu, federal authorities allege Blakeney was recruited by Marvel Fairley and Shane Hennen for a point-shaving scheme. He allegedly agreed and then recruited others on his team to influence the outcome of games.

Authorities allege the scheme resulted in Fairley leaving a package containing nearly $200,000 in cash inside a Florida storage unit belonging to Blakeney. The funds represented “bribe payments and proceeds from the scheme,” according to law enforcement officials.

Playing and conspiring

Following his alleged role in fixing games as a member of the Jiangsu Dragons, Blakeney turned into a recruiter for what authorities framed as a growing syndicate that would reach deep into the depths of college basketball.

The defendants, including Blakeney, are accused of recruiting low-major players for point-shaving. Authorities noted they “specifically targeted college players for whom the bribe payments would meaningfully supplement, or exceed” their NIL compensation.

But even while playing his alleged role in the the college basketball ring during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 NBA seasons, Blakeney continued his overseas playing career. Blakeney returned to the Chinese Basketball Association in the 2023-24 season before landing with Israeli club Hapoel Tel Aviv the past two seasons.

He scored five points on 1 of 6 shooting 18 minutes during Hapoel Tel Aviv’s 91-81 win over Ironi Ramat Gan on Jan. 11. He is averaging 13.7 points on the season for a team that is 12-1 and tied for first in the Israeli league standings.