26 Iowa Athletes Under Investigation for Online Sports Gambling
The University of Iowa announced on Monday that it was complying with an investigation into online sports gambling activity within the Iowa athletic department, with NCAA violations and criminal activity potentially involved. The school announced that it had reported the allegations to the NCAA and hired outside counsel to aid in the investigative process.
According to the university, 26 current student-athletes and one (non-coaching) full-time employee of the athletic department were among the 111 names provided as allegedly involved in the gambling activity under investigation. The university also stated that the "vast majority of the individuals are student-staff, former student-athletes, or those with no connection to UI Athletics." An Iowa Board of Regents statement characterized the activity as "online gambling."
The 26 athletes' sports were identified by the school as baseball, football, men’s basketball, men’s track and field, and wrestling.
The law enforcement agency involved in the investigation is the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, as first reported by Darren Rovell of The Action Network. Concurrently, Iowa State University also announced Monday that it was complying with a gambling investigation involving 15 student-athletes from football, wrestling and track & field.
According to the statement, the University of Iowa received the names of alleged participants on Thursday, May 4, and began withholding implicated Hawkeye athletes from competition beginning Friday, May 5.
That day, star Iowa outfielder Keaton Anthony was among multiple players not present with the team as it faced Ohio State, and the athletic department announced afterwards that they were not present due to potential NCAA violations:
Even as sports gambling is legal in 33 states, including Iowa, NCAA bylaw 10.3 (Unethical Conduct, Sports Wagering Activities) prohibits athletic department staff members and athletes from wagering on any level of any sport sponsored by the NCAA. Bylaw 10.4 states that the punishment for violating provisions of the Unethical Conduct regulation is ineligibility from future competition, subject to appeal.
The University of Iowa also noted in its statement that the athletics department provides education on those NCAA rules, as well as potential consequences. The school's statement does not specify the precise criminal activity alleged.
Go Iowa Awesome will report more information on this ongoing investigation as it becomes available.