Alabama fires baseball coach after report of suspicious bets
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is firing baseball coach Brad Bohannon after a report of suspicious bets involving his crew, with the varsity saying he violated “the standards, duties and responsibilities expected of university employees.”
The firing introduced Thursday got here three days after a report warning of suspicious wagers prompted Ohio’s high playing regulator to bar licensed sports activities books within the state from accepting bets on Alabama baseball video games.
Alabama mentioned in an announcement that athletic director Greg Byrne has initiated the method of firing Bohannon “for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of university employees.” Jason Jackson will function interim head coach.
The college mentioned there can be no additional remark “pending an ongoing evaluate.” Alabama had mentioned Tuesday that it was trying into the report.
Matthew Schuler, government director of the Ohio Casino Control Commission, issued an emergency order on Monday “prohibiting the acceptance of any wagers on University of Alabama Baseball effective immediately.”
The order mentioned that one of many state’s “certified independent integrity monitors” notified the state in regards to the wagers.
According to ESPN, Las-Vegas based mostly U.S. Integrity warned sportsbooks of “suspicious wagering activity” involving Friday evening’s Alabama-LSU recreation. Alabama scored 5 runs within the ninth inning of an 8-6 loss to LSU, which was ranked No. 1 within the main faculty baseball polls whereas Alabama was unranked.
U.S. Integrity declined to remark.
NCAA guidelines bar athletes and athletic staff from betting on video games “and from providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition.”
The NCAA mentioned it was conscious of the state of affairs and gathering extra info however mentioned it couldn’t remark “on current, pending or potential investigations.” Alabama has mentioned it grew to become conscious of the state of affairs Monday night.
Ronnie Johns, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, mentioned in an emailed assertion that state officers “did not see any irregular activity in betting on the LSU/Alabama baseball series.”
“The operators of all the national sports book platforms did not report any suspicious activity in Louisiana,” he wrote Wednesday. “The issue at hand originated in Ohio alone and the Ohio Gaming Commission took action to shut down any bets involving Alabama. LSU baseball has absolutely not been implicated in any suspicious betting activity and therefore there is no investigation of any sort involving LSU.”
U.S. Integrity displays “data to see if discrepancies coincide with notable player or coaching events, reveal officiating abnormalities or are indicative of the misuse of insider information,” in keeping with its web site.
Bohannon went 166-124 in five-plus seasons, together with a 30-15 document this season. In 2021, he led Alabama to its first NCAA regional since 2014.
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