An investigation has led to the firing of University of Alabama coach Brad Bohannon and two Bearcats baseball staffers, with Bart Neff of Mooresville, Indiana, being tied to both cases. The state of Alabama has not provided details as to why Bohannon was fired, but reports of suspicious bets on the LSU vs. Alabama baseball game prompted Ohio’s top gaming regulator to force state-licensed sportsbooks to accept bets on the Tide game, which came three days after the ban. ESPN later reported from surveillance video of a sportsbook at the Cincinnati Reds’ Great American Ballpark that the bettor was Bohannon at the time. Greg Byrne, director of athletics at the University of Alabama, said the school has not received such evidence.
Earlier this week, Cincinnati announced assistant coach Kyle Sprague and director of operations Andy Nagel were relieved of their duties, about a week after the school opened an investigation into possible NCAA violations. An assistant coach and director of operations at the University of California baseball team were also fired following an internal investigation, with one of the people familiar with the situation revealing that contact with Neff led to his dismissal. It is unclear whether Mr. Neff was betting on the Cincinnati baseball game.
Neff’s son, Andrew, is listed as a pitcher for Cincinnati but has not played this season. Bart Neff is a youth coach in Indiana and has connections with college coaches through recruiting. The Cincinnati case is the latest in a series of college sports gambling scandals this month, with the NCAA announcing plans to conduct an athlete-only investigation on the subject.