Alleged College Baseball Bettor was Clumsy, Reckless, Reports Claim

Accused college baseball bettor reportedly clumsy and reckless

The youth league baseball coach at the center of the University of Alabama's insider betting scandal stood out when he tried to bet more than $100,000 in cash on the Crimson Tide's loss to LSU. That's according to new details about the case revealed by Sports Illustrated.

On April 28 of this year, Bert Neff of Mooresville, Indiana, allegedly entered a sportsbook at Ohio's Great American Ballpark, home of the Cincinnati Reds, and attempted to convince employees to accept his cash bet SI. Report.

Employees were immediately suspicious because there was little market traffic for the LSU-Alabama game that day and the proposed bet far exceeded the sportsbook's betting limits for NCAA games.

Neff then allegedly suggested he had inside information about the game, seemingly hoping it would convince staff to accept the bet.

Bohannon’s downfall

Neff's actions led directly to the firing of Alabama baseball head coach Brad Bohannon, who allegedly provided questionable information about Alabama star pitcher Luke Hall Luke Holman was ejected from the game at the last minute with a back strain.

Hagan Banks, a player who had not pitched since mid-March, took the mound in Holman's place. Alabama lost 8-6.

The connection between Neff and Bohannon was easily established because Neff was texting the former Alabama coach on the messaging app Signal while standing at the betting counter talking to sportsbook staff.

His actions were so obvious that investigators were then able to use security video to zoom into his phone and read the messages, SI reported.

Sportsbook employees relayed their suspicions about Neff to US Integrity, a Las Vegas-based sports integrity firm. The company notified the Ohio Gaming Commission, which launched an investigation.

Bohannon was released from the University of Alabama in early May. It's unclear whether he placed bets on the game through Neff, but he knew his information would be used for insider betting, according to SI sources with knowledge of the investigation.

Bohannon makes $500,000 a year as coach of the Alabama baseball team. Why he would risk it all to help a ruthless, unknown youth baseball coach who was allegedly trying to run a gambling scam is a mystery.

Who is Bert Neff?

Neff was a talented college pitcher who pitched for Louisville and Indiana in the 1990s, but he passed on a big opportunity, according to Sports Illustrated sources who know him.

His son, Andrew Neff, was a pitcher at the University of Cincinnati but reportedly knew nothing about his father's gambling activities. Two members of the Cincinnati baseball team, assistant Kyle Sprague and operations manager Andy Nagel, were fired on May 17, allegedly because they knew about the scheme .