On behalf of Rick Neuheisel, Michael Jordan, Wayne Rooney, Lenny Dykstra, Rajon Rondo and Gabe Kaplan, I can only shake my head at the poor judgment here. If the NCAA is gonna crack down on every college athlete that’s played in Fantasy Football league with a prize pot, you can probably take ESPNU and CSTV off your cable lineup for a lack of programming. From the Columbus Dispatch’s Randy Ludlow (link swiped from Repoz and Baseball Think Factory).
Ohio University baseball coach Joe Carbone was an assistant at Ohio State University when former Buckeye quarterback Art Schlichter first was arrested for gambling.
Ever since, Carbone has held out Schlichter as an example of what can happen to a college athlete who gambles — and becomes addicted to chasing bets.
“I let my guys know what happened to his life,” Carbone said.
Yesterday, OU’s 20-year baseball coach sadly acknowledged that three of his players apparently did not heed his advice or OU and NCAA prohibitions against sports gambling.
Andrew Shisila (above), 22, a senior pitcher from Mentor, was charged with accepting pro-sports wagers while two unnamed players suspected of placing bets were suspended from the team.
Brent DeCoster, 22, a former player and current OU student from Westlake, also was charged with bookmaking, a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by six months in jail.
Shisila and DeCoster, who are off-campus roommates, could not be reached for comment. They are scheduled to appear Thursday in Athens Municipal Court.
There is no evidence that the operation involved wagers on OU sports, the Bobcat baseball team or other student-athletes, officials said.
“There is no indication at this time of efforts to shave points or otherwise improperly influence the outcome of Ohio University games,” said athletic director Kirby Hocutt.
Athens Law Director Patrick Lang said no additional charges are expected. The gambling involved professional sports, Lang said.
Shisila and the other two players, not identified because of federal privacy laws, will not play baseball while the NCAA investigates, Hocutt said. Five of eight people identified in the gambling case are OU students, he said.
Mark DeCoster, Brent DeCoster’s father, said the charges are overblown. He said the case involves friends making “friendly” $10 or $20 wagers, including on a fantasy football league. His son will plead not guilty, he said.