Iowa starting DT gets 1 year suspension for betting
Somehow Iowa's starting DT, Noah Shannon, received a 1 year suspension for betting $800 on various Iowa sporting events (not football). Shannon was old enough to bet (6th year senior now) and did not commit a crime which makes the length of his suspension a bit curious considering players who have been arrested for crimes often get a few games or driven from jail to practice so they can play that weekend....
What is perfect is the link to Draft Kings at the bottom of the article to put a bet on Iowa football, can make that stuff up. :)
August 24th, 2023 at 2:06 PM ^
The hypocrisy with this is laughable. I can understand if he bet on Football, but the fact that he was old enough and bet on other sports should not be punishable. Like would the university suspend regular students who could legally bet on sports? Of course not. And of course the irony of having the Draft Kings ad in the article is just icing on the cake that this all just a farce.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:43 PM ^
I definitely see an issue with betting on your own universities sports when you're an athlete there (my experience from UM is that athletes stick together), but that seems more like a problem for his sportsbook than for the NCAA.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:05 PM ^
Why would it be a problem though? It's not like he has a way to affect the outcome of any other sport he's not involved in. But, if the athletes do "stick together" so much that other athletes start throwing games to allow their friends to win bets, that's another issue altogether. Since there hasn't been any evidence of that, why should an adult who's legally allowed to gamble be punished for something like this? Would the same athlete get in trouble if he bet on an NFL or NBA game?
August 24th, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
Inside information, potential for game-fixing, etc. I don't have an opinion about punishment, but there's a reason all sports are extremely concerned about athletes gambling.
IMO colleges having gambling entities as sponsors is both hypocritical and abhorrent.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:16 PM ^
Which is exactly why I said it would be another story entirely if other athletes start throwing to allow their friends to win. There's been no evidence of that. It's just an adult doing something an adult is allowed to do.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:32 PM ^
They may not throw games for each other (and the friends may not know about the bets) but to the point of how athletes stick together, they would have insider knowledge about who among their friends isn't 100%.
You're a DL at Iowa, and your #1-in-the-country wrestler buddy is dealing with an undisclosed shoulder injury. You definitely know things.
August 24th, 2023 at 5:12 PM ^
This. It amazes me that a lot of people don't see this angle of the whole betting on your programs sports. It doesn't matter if there are no improprieties. The perception is enough.
Bet on horse races or the nfl if you must.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:20 PM ^
The problem is insider info, ugly territory in gambling (again more of a sportsbook concern than a NCAA concern)
But as posters below said, if the NCAA has zero tolerance on gambling on college sports, then I think being punished makes sense, even though the punishment seems harsh.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:25 PM ^
The NCAA also has a "zero tolerance" standpoint and rules in place to punish programs like Tennessee. They shouldn't be allowed to have a football program for quite some time for what they did, but here we are, reveling in the ineptitude of the NCAA.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:01 PM ^
As a former athlete, we were always told that betting at all is against NCAA rules for several reasons. Partly because of the worry that you can become compromised if you owe money to gamblers. The wrong kind of people can quickly have you fixing your own games to pay off debts.
Are most people aware that NCAA athletes are banned from filling out March Madness brackets?
These rules might be antiquated given how gambling on sports have changed but they didn’t come from nowhere. Enough college athletes have been caught fixing games after owing favors/debts to the wrong people.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:10 PM ^
I appreciate your input on this. These points definitely make sense. However, with the ever changing landscape that is modern day college athletics/NIL, these kids are now being treated as pseudo-professionals. How they're using their money should be their prerogative. If it leads to a scenario like I mentioned above, then I completely understand dropping the hammer and punishing them. But if there's no evidence of this type of wrongdoing, betting on other sports at your own university shouldn't lead to any type of punishment.
August 24th, 2023 at 5:24 PM ^
You don't need evidence. Why not bet on Wisc. vs. Minny? Is he to lazy to check the line? Is it just school spirit? So many things to bet on these days, why on your own school?
You're not going to be convinced from the looks of it. Those could be some reasons.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:11 PM ^
It's plainly stated in NCAA guidelines that all athletes are prohibited from betting on sports that the NCAA sponsors a championship in.
It may seem like it is unpunishable because it is legal (in some states), but athletes are also made fully aware of the NCAA rules.
Drinking is legal if you're over the age of 21, but most employers will prohibit drinking during work hours or on work premises. So, even though it's legal, you can still absolutely receive discipline from your company for it.
It is no different here. We may not like it, but it is pretty plainly stated ahead of time by the NCAA. An athlete is making their bed by gambling on sports.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:18 PM ^
This is 100% a fair point. But scenarios like this are just reinforcing how useless and hypocritical the NCAA is. Allowing sports betting sites to be sponsors of schools they oversee = perfectly fine. A student at any of said institutions using the betting sites legally = punished. Makes no sense.
August 25th, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
Damn, now I'll be surprised if Harbaugh doesn't get 2 years for cheeseburgers.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:07 PM ^
Well, I'd bet he's not starting then.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
Damn! I get they don't want him betting on football, but this seems really harsh. Hope the appeal gets him back on the field this season. Taking a shit ton of ad money from gambling sites to intice people to gamble is perfectly fine apparently so long as the ads don't work on of age athletes?
Hypocrisy = NCAA
August 24th, 2023 at 5:13 PM ^
How has the NCAA taken money from gambling sites? They may advertise during games, but that’s not something the ncaa gets money from. The networks do.
i mean I guess you could say networks pay higher for rights to march madness, POSSIBLY because of gambling sites buying slots, but it’s not like it’s the NCAA March Madness presented by FanDuel.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:09 PM ^
I have mixed feelings about how sports organizations are drawing up their rules on gambling in general, but as a matter of principle, it's not incoherent or hypocritical to come down more harshly on certain legal activities than you would certain illegal ones if the former directly impacts the integrity of the game and the latter does not.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:15 PM ^
I agree in general with this. I assume the argument is the apperance that he may have inside information on other sport programs at Iowa due to the athletic community?
I actually don't know the prohibition rules on college athletes gambling. Can they gamble on pro sports? Can they gamble on college sports that are not the sport they play or the school they attend?
Edit - I still stand by a season ban being too harsh. The NFL took a third of the season under the same type circumstances. That seems more in line and does not crush the kids chance of learning from his mistake and still being a draft prospect.
August 24th, 2023 at 5:10 PM ^
I also think it's too harsh, given what is actually alleged. That said, I imagine the reason is as you suggest--athletes at the same school are sort of like co-workers, and I can definitely imagine circumstances where they would be privy to non-public information about other SAs.
Similarly, I think Jameson Williams's suspension was way too harsh, and there I think the distinction they make is even harder to understand. If he was gambling on NFL games obviously it would be entirely different, but if you're going to allow betting generally (which they do), the idea that placing the bet in a hotel room during a team trip is worth 6 games while placing it at home is perfectly fine seems dumb.
August 25th, 2023 at 12:09 AM ^
“On January 7, 1963, Karras's ownership share in Detroit's Lindell AC Bar became a source of controversy when league officials urged him to sell his financial interests in the place because of reports of gambling and organized crime influence.
After first threatening to retire rather than give up the bar ownership, Karras admitted placing bets on NFL games and was suspended by the league, along with Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung, for one season (1963).”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Karras
Karras and Hornung weren’t some taxi squad scrubs who wouldn’t be missed—they were legit NFL stars on teams that at the time were among the best in the league.
I won’t dispute for a second that the NCAA operates at a galactic level of hypocrisy, but anybody who is surprised by harsh treatment of gambling is simply unaware of the long history of collegiate and professional sports leagues taking a dim view of it once it becomes too blatant.
August 25th, 2023 at 5:24 AM ^
the lindell AC = lindell athletic club. i remember as a kid (think: dinosaurs recently dead) as you climbed the ramp at tiger stadium you could see the neon sign there that said: limp in....leap out. i was so much older then. i'm younger then that now.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:11 PM ^
Good thing he wasn’t buying burgers with that money. Probably a lifetime ban at that point.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:37 PM ^
They will need to check the receipts from “Short’s” - one of the best burger spots in Iowa City.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:21 PM ^
If he didn't bet on Iowa football and was of legal age I cannot understand why he would be punished at all.
I'm not interested enough in the story to dig deeper but this feels like a really stupid decision by the NCAA...which should come as a surprise to no one.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:22 PM ^
Welp. Msu gettin really lucky.. yesterday it was Washington’s RB and OL out for the season and today it’s Iowa’s guy.
August 24th, 2023 at 3:03 PM ^
Until Michael Penix and their 2 star WR's get hurt, I think losing their RB doesn't mean much to air-raiding MSU's trash secondary. The two Washington OL were also a reserve and a walk-on, so again, I don't think those injuries are going to stop them from beating Sparty pretty handidly.
August 24th, 2023 at 4:05 PM ^
you can’t separate their QB from their team.
unless you’re Indiana. Then it’s detachable Penix
August 24th, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^
I think the severity might reflect the fear of a scenario in which a player who sustains huge losses on bets and gets badly in debt is consequently more vulnerable to fixing the sport he does play in order to get out of debt.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
This is a good point, had not considered it.
August 24th, 2023 at 4:08 PM ^
There are some genuinely slippery slopes here that could threaten the basic integrity of the sport. People who don't think that's likely should read about the old days of baseball and college basketball. I'd be more sympathetic here if he'd bet on, say, the Yankees, but he apparently bet on athletes that he likely knew.
August 24th, 2023 at 5:27 PM ^
This is one of the best points. FanDuel and the like are not run by PTA moms and pops.
August 25th, 2023 at 12:25 AM ^
Anybody who thinks that the owners of FanDuel and other betting sites aren’t immediately adjacent to very shady characters is seriously deluding themselves. That’s why the NCAA’s playing footsie with sports gambling interests is so stupid and dangerous.
I’ll be surprised if there isn’t a serious gambling scandal involving the fixing of games by players for one or more P5 teams in the next five years. There’s simply too much gambling money floating around for human weakness not to be snared somewhere.
August 25th, 2023 at 9:04 AM ^
When it happens it will be basketball. So much easier to shave points.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:23 PM ^
Yeah, I know the NCAA is all about appearing to give a shit about athletes and integrity while not actually doing anything about it but a 1-year suspension for "not a crime" is pretty extreme even for them.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
Pretty on brand for NCAA enforcement nowadays. Hammer the little stuff you can get your hands on, give up on the big stuff that actually matters because its hard (LSU, Kansas, etc.)
August 24th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
Kinda crazy that the only D1 athletes betting on games are from the state of Iowa.
/s
August 24th, 2023 at 2:32 PM ^
He's suspended for a year for betting on other sports? And he was old enough? What am I missing here? This seems like a farce
August 24th, 2023 at 2:52 PM ^
ESPN.com has an interesting story on their front page about the recent trend of NFL players getting suspended for sports betting. It's pretty good reading on the subject.
I took from it that sense sports betting is so much more legal/prevalent/accessible, the rules need to either change, or the approach to educating the players needs to change.
The guys betting on the NFL in any capacity, I don't feel sorry for. But guys betting on college, The Masters, or the NBA? It seems they only got in trouble based on where their bets were placed. And a rule is a rule. And they should know better.
But as the first 3 games on our schedule will reflect, some rules are stupid. In the NFL, violent actions receive lesser penalties.
Alvin Kamara of the Saints is suspended for an assault that took place in which we was admittingly involved. He got 3 games. The Lions' Jamerson Williams placed a bet on a college football game and got 6.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
This suspension, brought you by DraftKings, and the appeal, sponsored by FanDuel.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:34 PM ^
I thought I had read some stuff on the inter webs that points a new group of investigators/decision makers at the NCAA and that they’re trying to puff their chest out like doing so will prevent that organization from slipping into obscurity.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^
In reality, it will accelerate their demise.
August 24th, 2023 at 4:21 PM ^
I agree.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:36 PM ^
Of course. As soon as MSU and PSU rotate onto Iowa's schedule that defense takes a big hit.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:37 PM ^
Dumb.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:38 PM ^
Of course it's stupid but what else would you expect from the NCAA at this point? They are making up the rules as they go along and trying to remain relevant. The fact that sports gambling is legal in most states if you're over 21 is an obviously enormous change in the environment. Unfortunately the NCAA is still digging through its backlog of improper contacts during COVID, which should be complete by 2026. Next up: players' unpaid parking tickets.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:41 PM ^
The pertinent question is whether there is a school/team rule against this that he broke.
"Against the law" isn't the only metric here.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:53 PM ^
There is no team or University of Iowa rule against it. The only law that applies is the state law requiring that you be over 21 to gamble. Otherwise it's the NCAA and their foolishness.
August 24th, 2023 at 2:42 PM ^
The ESPN article says he bet on another Iowa sports event and that can be punishable by permanent loss of eligibility. Seems like he got off easy with only 1 years suspension