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On Monday, Iowa announced the school is aware of a sports wagering investigation and is fully cooperating as 26 current student-athletes are involved across several sports — baseball, football, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, and men’s wrestling — along with one full-time employee of the UI Department of Athletics.
Iowa notified the NCAA of potential violations and also added it has “hired outside counsel to assist in the investigative process.”
The school’s announcement came the same day Iowa State revealed it is conducting a similar investigation. Gambling is legal in the state of Iowa, but NCAA rules ban athletes from participating.
Iowa’s probe comes after multiple UI baseball players were suspended for a three-game series against Ohio State that took place in Iowa over the weekend, reportedly because the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission launched an investigation.
“Due to a potential NCAA violation, we withheld some student-athletes from competition. We will have no additional comments as this is an ongoing investigation,” read an email from the school sent out on May 5.
The school did not name any particular students-athletes potentially involved, but On3Sports’ Kyle Huesmann pointed out that four baseball players were missing during the series vs. Ohio State: Keaton Anthony, Jacob Henderson, Ben Tallman and Gehrig Christensen.
“The commission takes the integrity of gaming in the state seriously and is continuing to monitor the situation and will provide any additional information when able,” Brian Ohorilko, the director of gaming for the state’s commission, told Action Network.
The Hawkeyes baseball team holds a 34-12 overall record and is 10-7 in the Big Ten. Anthony — a 2022 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American — is the current team leader in batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, and OPS. He had not missed any games this season before the current series.
Due to gambling issues, this potential Iowa scandal comes shortly after Alabama let their coach go.
Alabama fired baseball head coach Brian Bohanon last week because of “suspicious wagering activity” related to Crimson Tide games. Following Bahanon’s firing, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey released a statement saying that the conference has “zero tolerance for activity that puts into question the integrity of competition.”
The Hawkeyes won their first two games against the Buckeyes with a 16-9 result on Friday and a 15-3 final score on Saturday. They lost 2-5 on Sunday. Iowa will return on the field next Friday as the team hosts Michigan State for a three-game series.
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