NCAA president and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker opposed college sports prop betting on Wednesday, stating he wants to see it banned in states where sports betting is legal.
Baker announced plans to contact officials in states that still allow these bets and urge them to remove college prop bets from all betting markets. He emphasized the NCAA is taking a stand on sports betting to protect student-athletes and the integrity of the game.
Baker’s statement follows the NBA’s investigation into Raptors player Jontay Porter, who is involved in unusual betting activity related to his own prop bets. These bets allow fans to bet on a player’s individual statistics, like points and rebounds.
Baker expressed concerns about prop betting leading to harassment of college and professional athletes. Coaches at TD Garden showed support for Baker’s call to remove prop betting from college sports ahead of Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchups.
UConn coach Dan Hurley expressed his support for Baker’s initiative to reduce the negative impact of social media, despite not fully understanding what a prop bet is.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood backed Baker’s efforts to safeguard the competitive integrity of the sport.
Underwood emphasized the importance of maintaining the competitive integrity of college athletics and expressed his reluctance to see it compromised due to prop betting.
Staying silent
Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr., currently a standout player, will not speak to the media as his team competes in Boston this week for a spot in the Final Four. Shannon Jr., a projected first-round pick in this year’s NBA draft, faced suspension after being charged with a count of rape or an alternative count of sexual battery in December.
Shannon Jr., who filed a lawsuit challenging the suspension, received clearance to return after missing six games and has refrained from speaking to the media since. Illinois issued a statement on Tuesday, citing Shannon Jr.’s continued unavailability on the advice of his legal counsel.
Underwood stated he has no issue with it.
Underwood acknowledged the seriousness of Shannon Jr.’s situation and emphasized the necessity for him to consult with legal counsel to determine his best course of action moving forward, which the team will adhere to.
The college has released their statements on those situations, and we're going to follow all that, and we're going to play basketball and do it to the best of our ability and keep trying to win games.
A special homecoming
UConn forward Alex Karaban, a Southborough native, is not the only player returning home for the East Regional. Iowa State forward Hason Ward, a former star at Springfield Central High School, will be playing his first game at TD Garden and said he has a few friends and family making the trip from Springfield for Thursday night’s game – especially his aunt.
Ward, a crucial bench player in his second season with the Cyclones, said this will be the first time his friends and family see him in an Iowa State uniform. Ward started his career at VCU and got to see them in visits to UMass.
“It means a lot because being (at) Iowa State, it’s pretty far so they can’t really get out as much, so that hour and a half away is a no-brainer that they’ll be here,” Ward said. “It feels good to know that my people are going to be here.”
Tip-ins
Hurley had the quote of the day as he discussed his feelings about college basketball’s ongoing transfer portal. The UConn coach doesn’t like how players can enter the transfer portal before the conclusion of the season, nor does he think student-athletes should be allowed to transfer schools multiple times without restrictions.
“I don’t think you should play in five schools in four years or four schools in four years,” Hurley said. “I don’t think that’s healthy for the individual for the long-term 50, 60-year life after their playing career is over because there’s no connection with our university, a coaching staff, a network of alumni that can help create opportunities once basketball is over. …
“I don’t like the window being open right now. I just don’t think it’s healthy for somebody to be able to change schools like underwear.” …
Boston is certainly not a common stop for several schools in this regional, but there was an appreciation for the city’s basketball history.
“All you have to do is look up at the rafters,” Underwood said. “You start looking up through, I don’t know, ’57 or ’59 and all the consecutive world championships and know what this city is about in terms of basketball. Larry Bird and Red Auerbach and Bill Russell, John Havlicek. You go right on down the list, and those are all names that are synonymous with the greats. …
“It’s great that it’s here in Boston, it’s in this iconic building and place, and it coincides with the fact the Celtics are really good again this year, but we’re doing it in the Sweet 16. So really excited about all that.”
