Brad Bohannon, who used to coach baseball at Alabama, was punished for a gambling scheme.
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The NCAA said Thursday that the former head baseball instructor for the University of Alabama gave inside information to an anonymous gambler who bet towards the Crimson Tide during an SEC game last spring. The coach and the school were both punished for this.
Brad Bohannon, the former coach of Alabama who was fired in May, did not help the NCAA look into the betting that happened on an Alabama-LSU ball game on April 28, 2023.
Bohannon got a 15-year “show-cause” order from the NCAA because he broke rules about betting and moral behavior.
If an NCAA school hires Bohannon, he must be suspended for “100% of the baseball regular period for the first five-year term of his employment.”
The university got three years of probation, a $5,000 fine, and has to hire a company to teach all of its student-athletes, coaches, and athletics administrators about gambling.
The NCAA says that on April 28, 2003, Bohannon sent this message to someone he knew was betting on an Alabama baseball game: “I’m sure [student athlete] is out.
Let me know so that I can let [the other team know].” “Be quick,” The NCAA says that Bohannon texted the bettor.
According to the NCAA, the bettor, whose name was released Wednesday as Bert Eugene Neff, tried to place a $100,000 bet on the Alabama game after getting the information from Bohannon but was only allowed to make a $15,000 bet according to the sportsbook’s staff.
Authorities in Indiana and Ohio say the bet was made at the BetMGM sportsbook at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. On the day of the game, Alabama didn’t use its starting pitcher. LSU won 8–6.
“Integrity of games is the matter of utmost importance to NCAA members, or the panel is deeply disturbed by Bohannon’s immoral behavior,” said Vince Nicastro, deputy commissioner as well as chief operating officer for the Big East and head of the panel that looked into the case.
“Coaches, student-athletes, and administrators had access to information that people who bet on sports think is useful.” Gambling officials in Indiana as well as Ohio have named Neff as the person who bet the money.
Sharing that information illegally to bet on sports goes against the honesty and good sportsmanship we expect from our members. It’s especially bad when people who can change the outcome of games do it.
Neff, a businessman from Indiana and a youth baseball coach, pleaded guilty today to federal charges of obstruction in the college baseball game between Alabama and LSU.
The Tuscaloosa News has tried to get in touch with Neff and Bohannon via text message to get their opinions but has not been successful.
Brad Bohannon was fired as Alabama’s baseball coach because of a gambling scandal. It’s a great example of how one can be caught.
Bert Eugene Neff, the bettor, could not have done a worse job of hiding what he did on April 28 when he talked to Bohannon.
Because of what happened, people who work in sports betting were told to be very careful when placing bets on Alabama baseball on May 1. By May 4, Bohannon was fired as coach of the Crimson Tide for a reason.
The NCAA released its negotiated resolution at the University of Alabama on Thursday. This made the details of the investigation public.
Bohannon was given a 15-year “show-cause” sentence. UA was fined $5,000 and put on probation for three years.
Neff wasn’t named as part of the negotiated settlement, but in May 2023, a person who knew about the case told The Tuscaloosa News that he was who he said he was.
He was born in Indiana and is the father of a former baseball player at the University of Cincinnati.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission said Wednesday that former University of Alabama baseball teacher Brad Bohannon and a friend will be banned from Ohio sportsbooks until they can file an appeal.
This is because they are accused of using inside information about a Crimson Tide baseball game to get better odds.
OCCC executive director Matt Schuler said in a public meeting that Indiana entrepreneur Bert Neff Jr. asked for and got private information to Bohannon on April 28 “to place a sports place” and then gave the information to at least one other person.
Schuler said that Neff bet on one game and tried to bet on another during the Alabama-LSU baseball game on April 28 at the Great American Field in Cincinnati.