Former Alabama coach Brad Bohannon to be banned from Ohio sportsbooks

Former Alabama baseball coach Brad Bohannon will be banned from Ohio sportsbooks after he took part in an alleged inside scheme to bet on Crimson Tide baseball games using inside information, the Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) said in a public meeting this week.

Bohannon will be able to appeal the decision within 30 days of receiving a letter from the commission.

OCCC executive director Matt Schuler said Bohannon gave non-public information about his team on April 28 to Indiana businessman Bert Neff Jr., who also faces a ban from Ohio sportsbooks for his involvement in the operation. Neff used the information he obtained “for the purpose of placing a sports wager” and went on to share the intel with one or more individuals.

According to a report from ESPN, Neff attempted to make a straight bet of “upward of $100,000” that LSU would beat Alabama in their April 28 game. He attempted to make the wager at a BetMGM sportsbook at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.

The size of the wager on a matchup that hadn’t received much action drew the attention of the sportsbook: Video surveillance from the sportsbook showed Neff was communicating with Bohannon while placing the bet. Prior to the game (which LSU won 8-6), the Crimson Tide scratched its starting pitcher.

Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne notified Bohannon in a May 4 letter that he was initiating the process to fire him for cause, citing 10 subsections in his contract that Byrne said there was “sufficient evidence” that he violated.

Bohannon went 166-124 in six seasons with Alabama, which included an NCAA Tournament berth in 2021. He did not coach Alabama in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, which saw the Crimson Tide advance under interim coach Jason Jackson to the Winston-Salem Super Regional. There, the team fell in two games to No. 1 seed Wake Forest.

In June, Byrne hired Maryland’s Rob Vaughn as Bohannon’s replacement (though he kept Jackson on as associate head coach and pitching coach). Vaughn went 183-117 in six seasons at Maryland, capped off by Big Ten regular-season titles in 2022 and 2023.