DES MOINES, Iowa — The University of Iowa announced Monday that 26 athletes across five sports are suspected of wagering on sports in violation of NCAA rules, and more than 100 people have been linked to an investigation.
In addition, Iowa State acknowledged that some 15 of its athletes across three sports also are suspected of violating gambling rules.
According to the NCAA D1 manual, student athletes are required to sign a student statement every season. It states "I affirm that I have read and understand the NCAA sports wagering rules and I agree that if I violate the sports wagering rules of the NCAA and/or any non-NCAA national or international athletics governing body at any time after I sign this statement while I am still a student-athlete at my current institution identified above I will promptly report this information to the director of athletics at the identified institution."
"I know from being a college football player, the first day you come in, or if not the first day the first day or two, they explain everything to you," said sports analyst Lee Stirling. "The can's and the can-nots, things you can and can't do as a college athlete. And one of them is you cannot gamble on sports."
Local 5 News reached out to the NCAA for a statement on the investigations into Iowa's two schools, and it directed us to its sports wagering infraction page on its website.
The page states: NCAA rules prohibit participation in sports wagering activities and from providing information to individuals involved in or associated with any type of sports wagering activities concerning intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics competition.
Stirling says it remains to be seen exactly what type of punishments these athletes could face.
"Ignorance isn't a defense," said Stirling. "You can't say, 'Well, I didn't know I couldn't bet on another sport'."
The announcements out of Iowa come less than a week after Alabama fired its baseball coach, Brad Bohannon, following a report of suspicious bets made at an Ohio casino involving his team.
"I knew that we were going to have something like this happen, I did not realize that the first case would be a college coach involved with something and lose his job," Stirling said. "And then the magnitude and the number of athletes as far as in this case between Iowa and Iowa State. I thought it would be something probably more isolated."
The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation released the following statement in regards to the allegations:
"The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) Special Enforcement Operations Bureau serves as the primary criminal investigative and enforcement agency for gambling laws in the state of Iowa. The DCI is involved in an ongoing investigation concerning sports wagering involving individuals at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. At this time, no criminal charges have been filed and no further information will be released. The DCI will work cooperatively with the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission concerning any potential regulatory violations."
Meanwhile, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission released its own statement, saying in part: "As the regulatory agency for gambling and wagering laws in the State of Iowa, the IRGC administers the laws and rules for gambling and wagering to ensure the integrity of licensees and their operations. Specifically, as part of the IRGC’s responsibilities to regulate sports wagering, the IRGC is always examining wagering activity utilizing information available from integrity monitoring providers, sportsbooks, other regulatory jurisdictions, sports leagues, and the public. The IRGC does not currently have any information that would call into question the integrity of any sports wagering contest or event involving the University of Iowa or Iowa State University."