Former Alabama Baseball Coach Banned From Ohio Betting After Gambling Violations

Former Alabama head baseball coach Brad Bohannon has been placed on Ohio's involuntary exclusion list after his involvement in a betting scheme last year.

Bohannon was fired from his position, fined $5,000 and given a 15-year show cause order from the NCAA after he gave insider information regarding the availability of one of his best starting pitchers, according to investigators.

The NCAA said Bohannon texted an associate — a former high school baseball coach, the Action Network reported first in May — (Student-athlete) is out for sure … Lemme know when I can tell (the opposing team) … Hurry" ahead of a game between Alabama and LSU.

Then-Alabama sophomore Luke Holman — who had led the team's starters in strikeouts and ERA — was sidelined a few hours before the game with what the team said was a back injury. Instead, reliever Hagan Banks was slotted in to face the then-No. 1 team in the country. Banks hadn't started a game in over a month.

Bohannon's associate then placed a series of massive wagers on the LSU moneyline, which closed at -245. Those bets raised massive red flags among regulators. College baseball moneyline markets are typically tiny — in the $500 range — and these bets were out of the ordinary.

LSU steamrolled to an 8-1 lead and quelled five unanswered Alabama runs en route to the 8-6 victory, allowing the associate to cash his bets as winners.

The Action Network reported in May that Bohannon was on the phone with his associate shortly before the bets were placed.

Placing wagers on insider information is par for the course in sports betting — unlike in financial markets, where that behavior is regulated by the SEC. But, if the athletes, coaches or referees in the game were involved in leaking the information, the results may be punitive, as they proved here.