CINCINNATI — The man who sparked an investigation into UC and Alabama's baseball teams after placing a suspicious bet at Great American Ball Park showed employees text messages proving he knew information about a baseball game before it was released to the general public.
According to the NCAA's investigation, the man — identified by the Associated Press at the time as the father of a UC baseball player — tried to place a $100,000 bet at the BetMGM sportsbook at Great American Ball Park on LSU to beat Alabama on April 28.
Employees only allowed him to place a $15,000 bet. When he tried to place additional bets on the game, the NCAA said employees declined "due to suspicious activity."
The NCAA's negotiated resolution process says the man told employees the bet was "for sure going to win," saying, "If only you guys knew what I knew."
Additionally, the man showed employees text messages from Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon. One of those messages stated, "(The pitcher) is out for sure ... Lemme know when I can tell LSU ... Hurry."
His wager resulted in the firing of Bohannon and an investigation into Alabama and UC's baseball programs.
Two UC staff members were relieved of their duties following an internal investigation into possible NCAA fractions. Head coach Scott Googins stepped down weeks later. In September, UC announced it found two violations related to sports betting involving the team's former assistant coach and a former player. Neither were with the team at the time of the announcement.
The NCAA released Thursday penalties against Bohannon and Alabama baseball. The team received three years of probation and must pay a $5,000 fine. Alabama must also retain a firm that provides gambling education to student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators.
"Integrity of games is of the utmost importance to NCAA members, and the panel is deeply troubled by Bohannon's unethical behavior," Vince Nicastro, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the Big East and chief hearing officer for the panel, said in a release. "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."
Bohannon received a 15-year show-cause order. During the order, employing member institutions must restrict him from any "athletically related position." If he is hired during that period, he will be suspended for all of the baseball regular season for his first five seasons.
