There’s nothing quite like the energy of college sports. For generations, it has been a bedrock of American life—one of the last bastions of genuine, local pride in an increasingly globalized world. It’s supposed to be a place where young athletes learn discipline, honor, and the thrill of fair competition. These games are more than just a box score; they’re a reflection of the meritocratic spirit that built this country.

But a rot has set in—and no, I’m not just talking about the DEI bureaucracy this time. A far more cynical force is at play, turning our games into a rigged casino. An ugly, corrosive mindset is replacing the honor of the game, where integrity is a cheap commodity to be hawked to the highest bidder. And as a shocking new federal investigation reveals, this corruption has reached a scale that threatens the very soul of the sports we cherish.

From ‘The Post Millennial’:

Federal prosecutors have charged 26 people in what authorities describe as a wide-ranging scheme to fix professional and college basketball games, including contests played in the NCAA as recently as last season. An indictment unsealed Thursday in federal court in Philadelphia alleges that more than a dozen college basketball players accepted bribes to deliberately underperform during games so that co-conspirators could place winning bets against their teams.

Forget a few shady characters in a Vegas backroom. This was a polished, international operation that made a mockery of the game and ripped off honest Americans. Yet the most disturbing detail isn’t just the crime itself, but its country of origin.

The Dragon in the Locker Room

According to court documents, this massive point-shaving ring wasn’t hatched in some dorm room. It was imported, like so many other cheap and defective products, directly from China. The scheme was first perfected in the notoriously corrupt Chinese Basketball Association before its architects expanded their franchise into the heart of the NCAA.

They were so brazen, so confident in their ability to rig the Chinese league that one of the indicted fixers, Shane Hennen, texted a friend, “Nothing guaranteed in this world but death, taxes and Chinese basketball.” Once they had perfected their blueprint for bribery, they turned their sights on us. Let’s call it what it is: the weaponization of greed, field-tested in a communist state and then deployed right here in our backyard.

A Crisis of Character

Of course, this foreign influence could only take root because it found fertile ground. The indictment reveals that players were paid between $10,000 and $30,000 per game to betray their teammates, their coaches, and their fans. They sold out their teammates and universities for what amounts to a down payment on a new car.

The fixers were clever, targeting athletes from mid-level programs who weren’t cashing in on the NCAA’s new “Name, Image, and Likeness” gold rush. They exploited a financial vulnerability, sure, but it was a moral one above all. This scandal is a damning indictment of a culture that increasingly preaches entitlement over duty. When moral character is treated as an optional accessory, don’t be shocked when it gets sold for parts.

Will Democrats Finally Wake Up?

For years, we’ve been shouting from the rooftops about the CCP’s creeping influence. We’ve seen it poison our universities, compromise our corporations, and infiltrate our technology. President Trump made confronting China a national priority, recognizing that Beijing is not a friendly competitor but a hostile adversary. All the while, the Left and its media mouthpieces dismissed these warnings as paranoia or worse.

Now, their willful blindness has come home to roost. China’s corrosive touch is no longer an abstract threat; it’s fixing college basketball games. So, will this be the moment the Left finally wakes up and smells the CCP-brewed coffee? Don’t hold your breath. They’ll likely frame this as a simple gambling problem, conveniently ignoring the dragon in the room.

This is about much more than a busted bracket. It is a stark reminder that the battle for America’s soul is being fought everywhere. From our classrooms to our courtrooms, and now on our basketball courts, foreign corruption is looking to exploit every weakness. This isn’t a game. It’s a warning we can no longer afford to ignore.

Key Takeaways

• Communist China is actively working to corrupt America’s cultural institutions.
• A widespread crisis of character among young athletes creates national security risks.
• The political Left’s weakness on China has allowed this foreign infiltration to fester.
• This sports scandal is a clear warning of a much broader cultural war.

Sources: The Post Millennial, Los Angeles Times