Iowa investigating student-athlete on-line wagering

As sports wagering has grown across the United States, one of the concerns was would it create a temptation for student-athletes to wager on games?

The answer in the state of Iowa appears to be yes.

Shortly after Iowa State announced that 15 of the current student-athletes engaged in on-line sports wagering, Iowa issued their press release which indicated that 26 players from baseball, football, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, and men’s wrestling participating in sports wagering.

The release from Iowa was quick to point out that the Hawkeye athletic department provides education on all NCAA rules and regulations, including sports wagering and the potential consequences for a student-athlete.

In the statement released by the University of Iowa, they say that they were informed of 111 names associated with school or athletic department, but the vast majority were either student-staff, former athletes, or not associated with the athletic department.

All of this comes on the heels of the gambling scandal with the University of Alabama baseball program. Crimson Tide head coach Brad Bohannon lost his job last week after suspicious bets were placed in Ohio on the Alabama vs. LSU baseball game. The issues in Alabama didn’t involve any student-athletes, but it appears this one certainly does.

The University of Iowa has released a timeline of the events and when they were first made aware of the investigation.

May 2: University of Iowa leadership was notified of potential criminal conduct related to sports wagering that also suggested possible NCAA violations.

The concern here for Iowa athletics is the use of the phrase “potential criminal conduct”. We don’t know what that might include, but it is certainly a troubling combination of words.

May 3: Law enforcement notified the university that additional information would be provided the following day.

May 4: The University received a list of individuals alleged to have participated in sports wagering.

May 5: The University of Iowa took the following action:

notified several student-athletes that they would not be participating in upcoming competitions;alerted the NCAA to potential violations; andengaged outside legal counsel to advise the university and potentially lead an investigation.

The May 5th timeline for the University perspective lines up with the Hawkeye baseball program not allowing a few players to participate in the series against Ohio State.

Iowa has alerted the NCAA about potential violations. Generally, anything that involves student-athletes and gambling is going to result in a half season suspension. However, in this new world of legalized gambling, we are in somewhat uncharted waters.

While most of the sports are currently out of season, Iowa baseball players who are involved hope to have some sort of resolution to their playing status in the next week.

Stay tuned to HawkeyeReport.com for the latest on this developing story.

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