After a recent college basketball betting scandal, college coaches have to be more careful than ever.
LOS ANGELES - As more money infuses the sporting world, the landscape finds itself increasingly changed, particularly at the college athletics level.
NIL deals obviously increase the cashflow that many young student-athletes are able to enjoy, but as sports betting continues to proliferate through the world of athletics, a dark side is revealed as well.
A recent betting scandal has rocked the college basketball world with multiple men’s college basketball players included in a recent indictment that exposed a wide-ranging gambling ring of “fixers” that allegedly bribed players to "shave points" during games to better benefit certain bets.
The reveal of this wide-ranging gambling scheme puts even more pressure on college athletics to walk the straight and narrow and in the case of UCLA, the need for diligence has trickled down to more programs than just men’s basketball.
Cori Close Reacts to Scandal
UCLA women’s head coach Cori Close described a memo that was sent out by UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond reminding programs to be careful and protect players from outside influences and advise them to stay away from any kind of betting involvement.
“I really do feel for college kids,” Close said. “People are showing up in their DMs and texting them as this betting thing has gotten completely out of hand. It’s just another distraction as if they didn’t already have enough.”
Gambling and sports have always had a tumultuous relationship. Stories of lifetime bans and mafia influences populate through the collective consciousness of sports fans, but in recent years a different kind of relationship has emerged.
Sports betting is everywhere now. Companies like DraftKings and FanDuel not only provide access for betting, they’ve even entered advertising deals and partnerships with sports leagues and media networks, creating muddled territory as to how the sporting world is to navigate this new relationship with an enterprise that was once considered outlawed.
Even as the one clear rule that’s remained is that college athletes must stay away from any betting activity, the temptation is everywhere.
The Responsibility of Coaches to Educate Players
College athletes are more open to communication than ever and with that comes even more vulnerability to darker agents like the aforementioned betting rings. The promise of thousands of dollars in compensation can be incredibly appealing to athletes, particularly ones that aren’t raking in lucrative NIL deals the way their peers or teammates may be.
It’s the hard right for a reason,” Close said. "It’s hard sometimes and there’s temptations everywhere and distractions everywhere."
For Close and other college coaches that are navigating the ever-changing world of athletics and both the business and nefarious aspects that increasingly encroach into the sport, advising their players on both financial and moral lessons becomes even more important.
Close is a coach that prides herself on instilling good values into her players and in the current landscape that particular mission is crucial not only for the benefit of her players’ careers, but their futures and freedoms as well.
“We’ve got to just continue to educate and to encourage our players that the hard right is always worth it.”
Category: General Sports
