Sam Pittman shares concerns about sports gambling

Following a couple high profile college sports betting scandals this spring, college football coaches are rethinking about how they educate players on the dangers surrounding sports gambling.

The NCAA prohibits wagering on sports and providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering, whether it be amateur, intercollegiate or professional. As more and more states have paved the way for legalized sports gambling, more issues have cropped up in college sports.

“I can’t remember, I think 38 of the 50 states have mobile app gambling,” Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. “So obviously you can’t gamble on sports. So it’s just the education. In some states you can be 18 and do it. In some it’s 21. To me it would be the need to educate, and they’re going to come in this summer, a firm that we talked to today, and talk to our team about it.”

Other SEC programs have already run afoul of the NCAA due to sports gambling.

Alabama fired baseball coach Brad Bohannon after an investigation into suspicious wagers placed on an Alabama-LSU game this spring surfaced. Bohannon was connected to a man placing bets on that game in Cincinnati.

In that instance, Alabama ace Luke Holman was slated to start on the mound against LSU but was a late scratch due to back tightness. The Crimson Tide started Hagan Banks in his place, with it being Banks’ first start in a month and a half.

LSU won 8-6.

Other issues have popped up across the country, too. Cincinnati fired two staffers in connection with the same man that Bohannon was reportedly in contact with.

Iowa and Iowa State suspended dozens of players after an investigation into sports betting there.

So coaches like Pittman are taking extra precautions this summer to ensure their players are well aware of the risks connected to sports gambling, even if it might seem convenient and easy to place bets.

Pittman’s concern level isn’t all that elevated, though.

“It’s not high. It’s not high, but there’s a concern,” he said. “I think everybody in there there’s a concern, I mean you’ve got 125 kids on your team. But I think we educate them. We educate them every semester when they come in with our team rules and all that. But I do think we’re going to have a little bit more come in in July and August, come talk to the team.”

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