CINCINNATI — An Indiana man whose son is a member of the University of Cincinnati baseball group is the bettor at the center of separate investigations that led to firings of Alabama coach Brad Bohannon and two members of Bearcats baseball employees this month, two people today familiar with the inquiries told The Linked Press on Friday.
The people today who identified Bert Neff of Mooresville, Indiana, as becoming connected to each the Alabama and Cincinnati situations spoke on situation of anonymity simply because neither was authorized to speak about ongoing investigations.
A quantity listed as Neff’s cell telephone was not accepting calls Friday.
No particulars had been disclosed by Alabama on why Bohannon was let go immediately after 5 years on the job. Nonetheless, the firing came 3 days immediately after a report warning of suspicious wagers on an LSU-Alabama baseball game prompted Ohio’s best gambling regulator to bar licensed sportsbooks in the state from accepting bets on the Tide’s games. Pennsylvania and New Jersey followed suit.
Connected | Alabama baseball coach fired immediately after suspicious betting at Terrific American Ball Park
ESPN reported later that surveillance video from the sportsbook situated at the Cincinnati Reds’ Terrific American Ballpark indicated the particular person who placed the bets was communicating with Bohannon at the time. ESPN cited various anonymous sources with direct information and facts about the investigation.
One particular of the people today familiar with the investigations told the AP on Friday that Neff was the particular person who placed these bets.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has considering the fact that stated the university had received no proof that any players had been involved in the circumstance. A text message to Byrne from the AP on Friday was not promptly returned.
Alabama is competing in the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament this week and is positioned to attain the NCAA Tournament.
Earlier this week, Cincinnati announced assistant coach Kyle Sprague and director of operations Andy Nagel had been relieved of their duties Might 17, about a week immediately after the college opened an investigation into feasible NCAA violations.
The college did not supply particulars of what was becoming investigated and stated it would not comment additional. Voice and text messages to Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham had been not promptly returned.
Connected | UC assistant baseball coach, director of operations fired immediately after internal assessment findings
But 1 of the people today familiar with the circumstance told AP that make contact with with Neff was what led to the firings. It is not recognized if Neff was wagering on Cincinnati baseball games.
A third particular person familiar with the Cincinnati investigation told AP there was been no indication games had been becoming fixed or that Sprague or Nagel had been betting on games.
Neff’s son, Andrew, is listed as a pitcher on Cincinnati’s roster, but has not played this season. The Bearcats season ended earlier this week when they had been eliminated from the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
One particular of the people today familiar with the circumstance stated Bert Neff has been a youth coach in Indiana with connections to college coaches via recruiting.
Sports Illustrated was initial to report Neff’s involvement with each the Alabama and Cincinnati baseball firings.
The Cincinnati case is the most up-to-date gambling-associated scandal in college sports this month.
Much less than a week immediately after Bohannon was fired, the University of Iowa stated 26 of its athletes across 5 sports had been suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA guidelines. Its cross-state rival, Iowa State, acknowledged that some 15 of its athletes across 3 sports also are suspected of violating gambling guidelines.
NCAA guidelines prohibit athletes, coaches and employees from betting on amateur, collegiate and expert sports in which the NCAA conducts a championship. The guidelines are below scrutiny as legalized gambling spreads across the nation, and the NCAA this week stated it was organizing an athletes-only survey on the subject.
