Down in the Cotton State, the state’s largest university is seeing a sports betting probe into their baseball program that has now seen their head coach being relieved of his duties. According to AL.com, Alabama decided to fire baseball coach Brad Bohannon earlier this month, less than three days after an ESPN report “raised questions about suspicious wagering activity” surrounding Crimson Tide baseball games. Moreover, per sources, this recently led to Ohio, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania all halting bets on the team’s games. Due to all of this negative attention, Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne announced he had “initiated the termination process for head coach Bohannon for, among other things, violating the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees.”
In this report, SBS will be going over the latest gaming news coming from the Cotton State along with more notes about Alabama wagering.
According to the report from AL.com’s Mike Rodak, a person familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press, “there is no reason to believe at this time that any student-athletes are involved.” Moreover, this particular person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. This is not the first time that the head coach has come under scrutiny. In addition to the betting probe, Alabama baseball and Bohannon were sued earlier this year by a former player, along with the team’s athletic trainer, due to alleged mistreatment after an injury.
Per multiple outlets, the head coach had been under contract through June 30, 2025, after signing a new two-year extension in 2021. This new deal paid him $475,000 for the 2022 season, along with $25,000 raises the following three years. The Tide are now looking to finish their season strong and lock up a spot in the SEC baseball tournament later this month. With their coach’s future uncertain, Alabama has made assistant Jason Jackson the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
According to the same article, U.S. Integrity, which monitors gambling data to detect abnormalities and misuse of insider information, sent a warning to all of its clients after Friday’s Alabama baseball game. It was reported that one of the bets flagged was a parlay involving the Alabama-LSU game, and another was a “large” straight-up bet on the game. Both wagered LSU would win. After these reports were made, the Ohio Casino Control Commission then suspended betting on Alabama baseball games at the state’s legal sportsbooks.
Regarding the specifics of the game itself, Alabama sophomore pitcher Luke Holman was scheduled to start the game, but according to the Tide’s game recap, reliever Hagan Banks was instead used in the matchup. With that said, Banks was apparently told “an hour before” the first pitch that he would be starting for Holman. The starter was scratched after experiencing back tightness before the game. Alabama would go on to lose the contest, 8-6.
Once you are done getting caught up to speed regarding the latest gaming news coming from Alabama, SBS has your back when it comes to always staying on top of the action. Of course, if you are in need of more info for the state at hand, our sports betting in Alabama guide is a great page to bookmark. Moreover, if you are also uncertain about which payment options might make the most sense for you, then the SBS payment methods rundown has your back with a ton of different options. On this page, you can find methods from traditional routes to cryptocurrencies. Finally, for those that are looking to wager legally and for higher stakes, our VIP sports betting sites breakdown covers all of the perks of VIP betting and how you can take advantage of it.