On Thursday, the University of Alabama’s athletic department fired head baseball coach Brad Bohannon after allegations of gambling surfaced during last week’s series against LSU.
Athletic Director Greg Byrne has “initiated the termination process” for Bohannon for “among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees.”
The Ohio state gambling commission saw some suspicious activity happening with heavy bets being placed on LSU to win last Friday night’s game against Alabama. Suspicions really started to arise when Bohannon pulled his starting pitcher an hour before he was supposed to start which raised some eyebrows.
According to a recent report from ESPN, sportsbook surveillance video showed that a person who placed bets on Alabama was directly communicating with Bohannon at the time.
The OCCC’s investigation is centered on two bets on the Tigers to win from the same unidentified customer, multiple industry sources told ESPN. A source familiar with the investigation told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that there’s “no reason to believe any student-athletes are involved.”
Besides Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and New Jersey all suspended bets on Alabama baseball until further notice. The good news, if there is any good news for Tide, was that the players had no clue of what was happening. But you have to wonder how long Bohannon had been doing this.
This was Bohannon’s fifth year with the Tide and before that, he was an assistant coach at Auburn for a year. The Tide is still fighting to make it into the SEC Tournament, which takes place in a few weeks.
About Stacey Mickles
Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.