Shane Beamer addresses how South Carolina is handling gambling issues in college athletics

Recently, two gambling allegations have been at the forefront of college sports. The most recent involved the Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes baseball team, and the other happened in the SEC, home to the South Carolina Gamecocks, involving the Alabama Crimson Tide.

With something as serious as gambling investigations going on, it would be more than understandable if the NCAA sent out paperwork to college programs across the country reminding them of the severe ramifications surrounding this issue. But are the conferences doing the same thing? More importantly, has the SEC reached out to any of their college coaches surrounding the matter, especially given the outcome of the Alabama investigation? During a recent interview, South Carolina’s head football coach, Shane Beamer, addressed that question and revealed what the university is doing to help combat the issue.

“Yeah, we haven’t had any discussions from an SEC standpoint. And it is something that we always, from a university standpoint, try and be aware of, try and stay on top of, try and educate our guys throughout the school year,” said Beamer. “Whether it be reminding coaches that we can’t bet on the NCAA tournament, when March Madness comes around, that’s a pretty standard e-mail that you get. And then just making your players aware of stuff. But anytime you see kind of what’s going on across college athletics a little bit, it’s a good reminder, you know what, maybe we need to revisit this again with our guys.”

It is worth noting that the Alabama baseball gambling incident did not end well for the team or their head coach. Alabama skipper Brad Bohannon was fired not too long after the investigation got underway. David Ubben and Andy Staples of The Athletic reported that Bohannon “was found to be connected with betting activity” that regulators had flagged.

The “suspicious wagering activity” took place at the BetMGM sportsbook at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Ohio, and multiple states began to halt bets on Alabama baseball games, according to ESPN.

According to Ronnie Johns, the chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, via a report from NOLA.com, two bets were under scrutiny, including one large bet.

“There were a couple of bets made in Cincinnati, Ohio,” Johns said. “One was on a parlay which involved the LSU-Alabama game, and then there was another straight-up (money line) bet, I was told it was a large bet that involved LSU-Alabama.”

Johns confirmed the bets were on the Tigers to win, leading him to believe the suspicious activity didn’t come from the LSU side.

“That in itself indicates that there’s definitely no suspicious activity on the part of LSU,” Johns said. “You don’t typically suspect the team that was picked to win the game. The problem would have been whether someone on the Alabama side was suspicious of activity.”

Currently, no further discipline has been levied against Alabama, but given the severity of the circumstances, more trouble could be on the way. As for Beamer and South Carolina, this serves as a cautionary tale that sports betting is no laughing matter. If you are involved in college sports at any level and value your job or position, it is best you stay clear from that activity altogether. Otherwise, you run the risk of so there are consequences and disciplinary actions up to but not limited to termination.

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