Noah Darling
Omaha, NE- On Saturday, College Baseball Central’s sources indicated that the NCAA had launched an investigation in to the University of Iowa, regarding student athletes and gambling. This came just days after Alabama announced that they were firing Head Coach Brad Bohannon for his involvement with sports wagering.
Friday night, after star baseball player Keaton Anthony was a notable omission from the Hawkeye lineup, Iowa announced via press release “Due to a potential NCAA violation, we withheld some student-athletes from competition. We will have no additional comments as this is an ongoing investigation”. While Iowa did not state whether the investigation pertained to gambling, it was evident that an investigation of some kind was underway, and CBC sources felt confident that not only was gambling involved, it was bigger than just the baseball team.
The University announced on Monday that 26 athletes across 5 Hawkeye sports have become the center of their investigation in to sports wagering. Iowa is one of 33 states that allow sports gambling, although NCAA rules prohibit any student athlete from gambling of any kind, whether it be casino gambling or even paid fantasy sports. On top of some athletes breaking NCAA rules, legal ramifications may exist for student-athletes under the legal betting age in Iowa of 21. No matter the unfairness of an ordinary college student being able to gamble while a college athlete can not, there is no double standard with the law that you must be 21 to gamble.
In Iowa’s statement, a timeline is provided, stating that the University was alerted of potential criminal conduct on May 2nd, with a law enforcement investigation occuring on May 3rd producing a list of individuals believed to be involved in sports wagering on May 4th. On Friday May 5th, Iowa notified student athletes, the NCAA, and legal counsel regarding the matter. Student athletes associated with the investigation were withheld from competition.
The board of regents has determined that the gambling occurred online, and has been prevalent among Iowa State athletes as well. Both schools are committed to compliance and self-reported these instances. While we do not know names of athletes directly involved yet, we do know that Hawkeye baseball, football, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, and men’s wrestling are involved. As for Iowa State, football, wrestling and track and field are the center of their investigation. The University of Iowa has stated that no coaches have been found to be involved. The full statement from Iowa can be found here.
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