This story has been updated from a previous version.
Alabama has fired baseball coach Brad Bohannon amid an emerging betting scandal involving the team.
The university announced Bohannon's firing Thursday morning, adding that pitching coach Jason Jackson will serve as head coach for the remainder of the season. The Crimson Tide have 10 more regular-season games and are trying to secure entry as one of the 12 teams in the 2023 SEC Tournament in Hoover, Ala., May 23-28.
Bohannon's firing comes days after state gambling regulators in Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania halted all wagers involving the Crimson Tide's baseball team after suspicious bets were made in Ohio involving the Alabama-LSU game on Friday, April 28.
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Here is everything you need to know about Bohannon's firing, and the ongoing scandal involving suspicious bets from the Alabama-LSU game:
Alabama baseball betting scandal, explained
ESPN on Monday reported the Ohio Casino Control Commission had halted all bets involving Alabama's baseball team after U.S. Integrity — a Las Vegas-based independent monitor of gambling data — detected suspicious wagers on Friday's Alabama-LSU game, the first of a three-game series.
ESPN later reported that the person who placed the suspicious bets was communicating with Bohannon at the time the wagers were placed.
Jessica Franks, director of communications for the Ohio Casino Control Commission, told ESPN the bets were made in the BetMGM sportsbook, inside the Reds' Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Ronnie Johns, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board's chairman, told NOLA.com on Tuesday that both bets — one of which was "large" — had LSU winning.
"There were a couple of bets made in Cincinnati, Ohio," Johns told NOLA.com. "One was on a parlay which involved the LSU-Alabama game, and then there was another straight-up (money line) bet. I was told it was a large bet that involved LSU-Alabama."
Later, New Jersey and Pennsylvania's gambling commissions also halted bets involving Alabama baseball, per a report from AL.com. Johns later added that LSU isn't suspected of illicit activity, as it was the favored team in the wagers; ESPN reports that there is "no reason to believe any student-athletes are involved" in the incident.
The suspicious bets were made as Alabama experienced a change in its pitching lineup ahead of the game: Sophomore Luke Holman was scheduled to get the start against the top-ranked Tigers on Friday, but Bohannon switched to reliever Hagan Banks an hour before first pitch after Holman experienced tightness in his back, according to Leah Vann of the Baton Rouge Advocate.
RHP Hagan Banks on the mound for Alabama. RHP Luke Holman was scratched because of back tightness.
— Leah Vann (@LVann_Sports) April 28, 2023
Banks has a 2.25 ERA through 24 innings pitched. Looks like his last start was at Florida on 3/16 where he went 3 1/3 giving up one hit and striking out two. #LSU
The Action Network reported Friday that the bettor was a former high school baseball coach who was on the phone with Bohannon when the decision to switch starting pitchers was made.
Banks took the loss after pitching three innings while giving up three hits and four earned runs in the loss. Said Bohannon after the game:
"Hagan Banks did a good job, especially for finding out an hour before the game that he was going to start. He went out and competed for three innings," he said. "Kade Woods then did a great job of getting us to the middle of the game and having us within striking distance. We obviously didn't pitch well enough out of the bullpen at the end. If we pitch a lot better from the sixth inning on, it's a different ballgame."
LSU at one point led 8-1 before holding off a Crimson Tide rally in the ninth inning to win 8-6. The Tigers also clinched the series on Saturday with a 12-8 victory before sweeping Alabama on Sunday with a 13-11 victory.
The Southeastern Conference on Wednesday issued a statement regarding the betting scandal:
"We are aware of reports related to the suspension of wagering on Alabama baseball games," commissioner Greg Sankey said in the statement. "We will continue to monitor available information and any regulatory activity.
"As many states have acted to legalize sports gambling, we are reminded of the threats gambling may pose to competitive integrity. Together with our member universities, we will continue to emphasize the importance of regulating, overseeing, and providing education related to sports gambling activity.”
Sankey later issued a statement commending Alabama for "swift action" in firing Bohannon, adding that there must be "zero tolerance" for actions that call competitive integrity into question. Per Kendall Rogers, managing editor of D1baseball.com:
.@SEC commissioner Greg Sankey on @AlabamaBSB terminating Brad Bohannon. pic.twitter.com/aOvunJaG3l
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) May 4, 2023
Why did Alabama fire Brad Bohannon?
In announcing Bohannon's firing, the University of Alabama said Bohannon, "among other things, (violated) the standards, duties, and responsibilities expected of University employees."
The university's statement continues: “Bohannon has been relieved of all duties and Jason Jackson will serve as the interim head coach. There will be no further comment at this time pending an ongoing review.”
Rogers later reported no Alabama players are expected to be involved in the betting scandal, and that Bohannon is the center of the investigation. His final record at Alabama is 166-124, including a 30-15 record and 9-12 mark in SEC play in 2023. He never finished with a .500-or-better record in conference play, and only once led the Crimson Tide to the NCAA Tournament, finishing with an exit in the 2021 Fayetteville Regional.
Bohannon is also one of three coaches — including Jackson and trainer Sean Stryker — involved in a lawsuit from former player Johnny Blake Bennett. The pitcher from Haleyville, Ala., alleges they were negligent after he suffered a 2019 arm injury, claiming they followed neither university nor NCAA guidelines.
Bohannon worked as an assistant coach at Auburn and Kentucky before getting the head coaching job in Tuscaloosa.
