NCAA reveals details of former Alabama baseball coach's cheating scandal

On Thursday, the NCAA revealed the details of the cheating scandal involving former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon, who was fired by the university in May 2023.

The NCAA gave Bohannon a 15-year show-cause order, but while he avoided a lifetime ban, he must live his association with the dimwitted scheme. 

The negotiated resolution contained a two-page summary of the events that led up to Bohannon's firing.

Ahead of the team's April 28, 2023 game against LSU, Bohannon messaged a bettor in Ohio, named in federal court as Bert Eugene Neff, that Alabama's scheduled starting pitcher for the game would be scratched before he told LSU.

Bohannon texted Neff, "HAMMER ... [Student-athlete 1] is out for sure ... Lemme know when I can tell LSU... hurry."

As unwise as leaving a digital trail is, Neff's subsequent actions make "The Three Stooges" look like Rhodes scholars.

The summary states sportsbook staff declined an initial $100,000 bet, instead accepting a $15,000 wager. The staff grew suspicious once he expressed an "insistent demeanor" when attempting to place more bets on the game, even telling the staff "that the bet 'was for sure going to win' and 'if only you guys knew what I knew.'"

Most damning, the bettor showed the sportsbook the texts from Bohannon, explicitly telling them who the messages were from and that they came before LSU had knowledge of the pitching change.

With sports betting more widespread than ever, it's unsurprising that coaches and players have been caught up in betting scandals. It's much more surprising how poor job of a job Bohannon and his co-conspirator did in covering up their tracks.

In November 2023, Bohannon was also banned from Ohio sportsbooks due to his involvement in the scheme. Also on Tuesday, Neff pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from the investigation. Per ABC News, he was "charged with obstructing a federal investigation, including destroying evidence, tampering with witnesses and providing false statements to the FBI."