Brad Bohannon is a former American college baseball coach and middle infielder.

Career

Bohannon played college baseball at Vanderbilt University in 1994 before transferring to the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995 and finally ending up at Berry College in 1996 and 1997. In 2015, he was named the ABCA/Baseball America Assistant Coach of the Year. ^[1]

Bohannon was announced on June 5, 2017 as the new head baseball coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide baseball. ^[2] On May 4, 2023 Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne suspended Bohannon with intent to fire him for cause amid his involvement in gambling activity. Surveillance video from BetMGM's sportsbook at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati indicated that someone placing bets on Alabama's April 28 game against LSU was communicating with Bohannon at the time. Four states halted betting on Alabama baseball amid concerns about suspicious activity. ^{[3] [4]}

It subsequently emerged that Bohannon alerted the person placing the bet in Cincinnati that Crimson Tide ace pitcher Luke Holman for the LSU game was going to be replaced due to back tightness, and did so before informing his counterparts at LSU. The gambler attempted to bet $100,000 on LSU, but was limited to $15,000. He tried to place additional bets, but sportsbook staff refused to allow the bets to go through after the gambler showed them messages from Bohannon. On May 1, U. S. Integrity, a company that monitors sportsbooks for potential fraudulent activity, issued a nationwide alert about suspicious betting activity on Alabama baseball games. When the Ohio Casino Control Commission alerted the NCAA about the suspicious bets, it immediately launched an investigation. Alabama informed the NCAA about its own investigation on May 3, and also revealed that it was in the process of severing ties with Bohannon. Realizing his position was untenable, Bohannon resigned on May 17. ^{[5] [4]}

On February 1, 2024, the NCAA issued a 15-year show-cause penalty to Bohannon, effective until January 31, 2039. This is tied for the longest such penalty ever meted out to a coach. The NCAA harshly criticized Bohannon for not only violating NCAA rules on gambling and ethical conduct, but for refusing to cooperate with either the NCAA or Alabama in their investigations. The NCAA added an unusual stipulation to Bohannon's show-cause. It that hired Bohannon during this time to suspend him from coaching duties for five years. Normally, most schools will not even consider hiring a coach with a show-cause penalty in effect, effectively blackballing that coach from the collegiate ranks at least for the duration of the show-cause. ^{[6] [7] [8]} If Bohannon is ever employed by an NCAA member school during this time, his new employer would have to show cause for why both it and Bohannon would not have to certify in writing that they will comply with the sanctions every six months. ^[9] Additionally, any school that hires Bohannon could face severe punishment if he commits another violation during the show-cause period. ^[10]

Head coaching record

References

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