One man’s gambling activity is the connective thread between simultaneous NCAA investigations of baseball teams at Alabama and Cincinnati and the subsequent firing of three coaches, Sports Illustrated has learned.
Multiple sources say that Bert Eugene Neff Jr., of Mooresville, Ind., placed wagers that raised suspicion at the sportsbook in the Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati before an Alabama-LSU baseball game on April 28. Sportsbook surveillance indicated Neff was in communication with Crimson Tide coach Brad Bohannon at the time he placed the wager, sources say. Bohannon was fired May 4.
Two Cincinnati staffers, assistant Kyle Sprague and operations director Andy Nagle, were terminated May 17 for what sources say was knowledge of Neff’s gambling activity, which the men did not report to school administrators. The school launched an internal review on May 8 and publicly acknowledged the dismissal of Sprague and Nagle on May 24. It is not clear whether Neff placed wagers on Cincinnati games.
