MIRAMAR BEACH, Fla. – Few actions result in a college athlete being banned from NCAA sports.
Stop him a misdemeanor chargetake performance enhancing drugs Or cheat for an exam? There is a path back to that.
Bet $750 on the Nuggets to win the NBA Finals? That could land a college athlete in hot water.
In the middle of debate over an eight or nine game SEC schedule and endless discussions about how to erect NIL guardrails, there’s another major topic for coaches and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey at the SEC spring meetings: gambling .
Sports betting has become increasingly prominent and visible since the Supreme Court in 2018 lifted restrictions that banned sports betting in most states. It used to be that if you wanted to bet on sports, you had to visit Las Vegas or check with your local sportsbook.
NOW, Vermont is on track to become the 38th state with legal sports betting. Betting is as convenient as loading a phone app.
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A few clicks on a device can change an athlete’s career, although I don’t know how many athletes realize the severity of the NCAA rules. Regulation 10.4 sets out the sanction in strict terms:
“Prospective or registered student-athletes who violate the (sports betting rules) will not be eligible for further intercollegiate competition, subject to an appeal to the Student-Athlete Reinstatement Committee to reinstate their eligibility. »
The NCAA has levels of leniency when it comes to reinstatement. Small bets on games not involving the athlete’s institution offer a quicker path to reintegration.
Still, here’s a simple PSA for college athletes: If you’re considering betting on sports – whether it’s amateur, college or professional sports – don’t do it.
Coaches and other sports personnel are also prohibited from betting on sports. Brad Bohannon, Alabama baseball coach, fired can attest to how career-destroying a sports betting scandal can be.
Elsewhere, sports betting investigations put athletes or sports personnel at Iowa, Iowa State and Cincinnati in the crosshairs.
“It’s something that’s concerning and something that we, as coaches, universities and a conference, better get a handle on,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said.
Many coaches and athletic departments bring in speakers and provide educational materials about the dangers of sports betting to athletes and university staff.
In the midst of this training, every coach and athletic director should explain the unequivocal bottom line: Sports betting is the stupidest thing a college athlete can do for their career.
Once education is achieved, individual responsibility comes into play.
NCAA rules prohibit sports betting on any sport, at any level, for which the association sponsors a championship. For example, because the NCAA sponsors basketball championships, betting on the NBA is prohibited.
Providing proprietary information to people who place bets or are associated with gambling also violates NCAA rules. In other words, if the left tackle knows that his team’s quarterback will not play on Saturday due to an ankle injury, he cannot provide that advice to his biology lab partner for the help with your betting strategy.
Should NCAA rules on sports betting be relaxed?
“I don’t think it’s a direction we want to go,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said.
If a college athlete fancies a few hands at a blackjack table, that’s no problem. Place your bets. But avoid those March Madness pools.
I’m not here to say that these NCAA rules are fair, given society’s move toward a broader embrace of sports betting. Frankly, the NCAA rules seem outdated and too harsh.
A college athlete who bets on his team’s games threatens the integrity of the sport. What threatens a college football player who bets on Japanese baseball?
Even though these NCAA rules are not fair, they score points for their lack of ambiguity.
It is written in black and white: sports betting can result in a very severe sanction.
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I understand the temptations.
State legislatures that have legalized sports betting have brought temptations to athletes’ doorsteps. Warning athletes that they can’t bet on sports is like hiring a celebrity chef and telling them they can’t taste the product that customers are lining up at a table for.
You can’t watch a sports match, listen to sports radio or browse social media without seeing a bookmaker’s advertisement. This makes sports betting seem fun, easy and profitable.
As Sankey puts it, sports betting has become “enculturated” into society.
“We talk to our players about it every year, but I certainly think we need to do a better job of educating it,” Beamer said, “because it wasn’t 20 years ago that you would walk into a casino in Las Vegas and This is how you place a bet. You can place it from your phone right now.
And young adults are trying their luck.
Opinion Diagnostics recently interviewed more than 3,500 people aged 18 to 22. Respondents may include current or former college athletes, although the data does not specify whether a respondent was an athlete.
Still, the survey results indicate just how popular sports betting is among young adults.
Among all respondents, 58% said they had participated in at least one sports bet. The percentage of bettors increased among college students compared to unenrolled young adults, and the amount wagered also increased among the college population.
Most bets among all respondents were under $50, but 5.8% reported losing at least $500 in a single day.
And, anyway, a $50 bet is enough to put a college athlete on the wrong side of the NCAA rules. The temptations are numerous, but the risk of committing remains serious.
Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Send him an email to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btopppmeyer.
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