The NCAA has handed former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon a 15-year “show-cause” order for breaking betting rules in April last year.
The lengthy penalty means that any NCAA school who hires Bohannon must 100% suspend him for the first five years of each regular season.
The restrictions will be imposed on both the NCAA school and coach, with both parties required to send letters to the NCAA agreeing to the sanctions and report to the college organisation every six months.
The Alabama baseball team was handed a three-year probation penalty, as well as a $5,000 fine after Bohannon was found guilty of breaking betting rules in new details of the case.
The NCAA report revealed that the former Alabama coach sent messages providing inside information on Alabama Crimson Tide games and placed bets on the team’s regular season matchup against LSU.
The report outlined that Bohannon messaged an individual who he knew would bet on the Alabama-LSU game on 28 April, 2023, messaging “(Student-athlete) is out for sure … Lemme know when I can tell (the opposing team) … Hurry.”
The identified bettor, Bert Eugene Neff, then attempted to place a $100,000 bet on the Alabama game, but was limited to a $15,000 wager by the BetMGM sportsbook according to regulators in Indiana and Ohio.
Bohannon failed to cooperate with the NCAA’s investigation on the Alabama LSU game and was ultimately fired by the college last May.
Vince Nicastro, Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer of the Big East, commented on the ruling: “Integrity of games is of the utmost importance to NCAA members, and the panel is deeply troubled by Bohannon’s unethical behaviour.
“Coaches, student-athletes and administrators have access to information deemed valuable to those involved in betting. Improperly sharing that information for purposes of sports betting cuts to the heart of the honesty and sportsmanship we expect of our members and is particularly egregious when shared by those who have the ability to influence the outcome of games.”
