CINCINNATI — An Indiana man whose son is a bookie on the University of Cincinnati baseball group is at the center of separate investigations that led to the firing of Alabama coach Brad Bohannon and two members of the Bearcats baseball employees this month, two persons familiar with the investigation told The Connected Press in Friday.
The persons who identified Bert Neff, of Mooresville, Indiana, as connected to the Alabama and Cincinnati situations spoke on situation of anonymity due to the fact neither was authorized to speak about ongoing investigations.
A quantity listed as Neff’s cell telephone was not getting calls Friday.
Alabama has not released facts about why Bohannon was fired following 5 years on the job. But the firing came 3 days following a report warning of questionable bets on the LSU-Alabama baseball game prompted Ohio’s prime gambling regulator to ban licensed bookmakers in the state from accepting bets on Tide games. Pennsylvania and New Jersey followed suit.
Associated | Alabama baseball coach fired following questionable betting at Terrific American Ball Park
ESPN later reported that surveillance video from a betting shop positioned at the Cincinnati Reds’ Terrific American Ballpark showed the bettor communicating with Bohannon at the time. ESPN cited various anonymous sources with direct data about the investigation.
A single of the persons familiar with the investigation told The Connected Press on Friday that Neff was the particular person who placed these bets.
Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has considering that stated the university has received no proof that any player was involved in the predicament. 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 that assistant coach Kyle Sprague and director of operations Andy Nagel had been relieved of their duties on May perhaps 17, about a week following the college opened an investigation into probable NCAA violations.
The college did not elaborate on what was getting investigated and stated it would not comment additional. Voice and text messages to Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham had been not promptly returned.
Associated | UC assistant baseball coach director of operations fired following internal audit findings
But one particular of the persons familiar with the predicament told the AP that speak to with Neff led to the firing. It is not identified if Neff bet on baseball games in Cincinnati.
A third particular person familiar with the Cincinnati investigation told the AP there was no indication that the games had been fixed or that Sprague or Nagel bet on the games.
Neff’s son Andrew is listed as a pitcher on Cincinnati’s roster but has not pitched this season. The Bearcats’ season ended earlier this week when they had been eliminated from the American Athletic Conference tournament.
A single of the persons familiar with the predicament stated Bert Neff was a youth coach at Indiana with connections to college coaches by way of recruiting.
Sports Illustrated initially reported Neff’s involvement in the Alabama and Cincinnati baseball firings.
The Cincinnati case is the most recent college sports gambling scandal this month.
Much less than a week following Bohannon was fired, the University of Iowa announced that 26 of its athletes in 5 sports had been suspected of betting on sports in violation of NCAA guidelines. Its cross-state rival, Iowa State, has admitted that about 15 of its athletes in 3 sports are also suspected of gambling violations.
NCAA guidelines prohibit athletes, coaches and employees from betting on amateur, collegiate and specialist sports in which the NCAA conducts championships. The guidelines are below scrutiny as legalized gambling expands across the nation, and the NCAA stated this week it plans an athlete-only survey on the subject.