The NCAA recently announced that a former women’s basketball coach at Sewanee, the University of the South, had violated its regulations by placing bets in excess of $93,000 on both professional and college sports events. It was determined that the violations were committed while the coach was employed as an assistant of the men’s basketball team and later on as the head coach of the women’s team.
The NCAA reportedly worked closely with enforcement staff to determine that the coach knowingly disregarded rules prohibiting state athletic department employees from participating in betting activities related to the sport in which they are directly involved.
While the coach’s identity has been withheld, the NCAA disclosed that the individual placed 407 bets on college sports, amounting to $28,000 in wagers, including more than 20 wagers on women’s college basketball games. The coach notably abstained from wagering on games involving their team.
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NCAA Crackdown Continues
The revelation is another addition to a string of high-profile cases involving gambling violations by individuals associated with the NCAA. Earlier in February, Brad Bohannon, a former baseball coach in Alabama, received a substantial 15-year show-cause order for divulging insider information about his team to a gambler who used the tips to partake in illicit wagering activities.
Sewanee University was first alerted about the coach’s betting activity in March 2023 by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council. The move prompted Brody Curry, who had served as Sewanee’s women’s coach, to resign from his position on July 14. Curry had previously been an assistant coach for the men’s team from 2020 to 2022.
The unidentified Sewanee coach has been issued a show-cause order as a result of the NCAA’s findings. The governing body’s order includes a five-game suspension meant to be served at the beginning of the next season of employment if the coach is hired by another NCAA-affiliated institution within the next two years. The order also includes a caveat for any institution hiring the coach to provide monthly rules education sessions to the coach during this show-cause period.
Fine Imposed On Sewanee University
The NCAA Committee on Infractions has placed Sewanee on a one-year probation period and also imposed a fine of $1,500 on the university. Deliberations were carried out through a cooperative summary disposition process, resulting in the head coach, Sewanee University representatives, and enforcement staff accepting the primary facts and violations outlined in the report by the Committee on Infractions. Both the coach and the school will be ineligible to appeal the decision since they have already officially accepted the imposed penalties.
The development has highlighted the NCAA’s focus on upholding the integrity of collegiate sports and its commitment to enforcing strict regulations to prevent any form of misconduct or insider betting within the institutions that fall under its ambit. The penalties issued to Sewanee and the former coach are meant to highlight the consequences of violating the rules laid down by the NCAA and the importance of adhering to ethical standards in collegiate sports.
“Regardless of the evolving views and prevalence of sports wagering, such activities remain against NCAA rules,” the committee wrote in its decision. “Given the prevalence of sports wagering activities on college campuses, it is arguably even more important that those closest to student-athletes refrain from such behaviors to protect student-athletes.”
While he was not named in the NCAA’s report, Sewanee issued a statement on the coach who was placed on administrative leave ahead of his resignation in late April 2023. “Brody has been an important part of the Sewanee family as a student-athlete, an alumnus, an assistant with our men’s program, and as the head coach of our women’s basketball program,” Sewanee Director of Athletics John Shackelford wrote in a statement after his resignation.
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