South Carolina Baseball: SEC rival coach gets HAMMERED by NCAA for betting scandal

South Carolina baseball fans are excited for the college baseball season to arrive as the Gamecocks are among the top teams in the country and are expected to make a postseason run that the USC Faithful hope ends in Omaha, Nebraska.

News heading into the season has been slow as most articles and reports on college baseball right now are some form of projection on the upcoming season. However, on Thursday, a massive bit of news came across the wire.

Former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon, who was fired back in May amidst a betting scandal, was absolutely HAMMERED by the NCAA with sanctions.

The NCAA Division-1 Committee on Infractions announced severe penalties against Bohannon (and some smaller ones against Alabama) on Thursday.

Bohannon was given a 15-year show cause for his transgressions, and if any team were to hire him during that time, he would be given a mandatory and immediate 5-season suspension. The University of Alabama was fined a small amount and put on three years of probation. The Crimson Tide also will be required to provide gambling harm classes for their student-athletes in addition to the already-mandatory NCAA classes regarding betting.

The report provided more details into what exactly Bohannon did, as well. Those details are shocking as the former Alabama coach engaged in brazen illegal gambling activities.

According to the NCAA, Bohannon used an encrypted messaging app to communicate with someone in Cincinnati about a bet that he wanted made. The bet was against the Tide as Bohannon knew that his top starting pitcher wasn't going to pitch that day. Bohannon instructed his accomplice to place the bet on the rival LSU Tigers before he informed LSU (and the betting market) of the pitching change.

Making the situation even more ridiculous, Bohannon's accomplice showed the betting office the messages from the Alabama coach when originally he was denied a $100,000 wager. The bettor, whose name is Bert Neff, was arrested for destruction of evidence (among other charges).

Points-shaving and the sports-equivalent of insider trading were enough to give Bohannon what effectively is a lifetime ban from coaching college baseball.

While Brad Bohannon will not be in the opposing dugout, South Carolina baseball will take on Alabama in 2024 in a 3-game series from March 28th to March 30th in Tuscaloosa. Former Maryland coach Rob Vaughn will lead the Tide this season.