Andrew Buller-Russ
The NFL has seen its fair share of professional athletes penalized for failing to comply with the league’s gambling policy. Now, college football is running into similar issues at Iowa State.
According to Keith Murphy, Cyclones tight end DeShawn Hanika’s eligibility has been permanently suspended for allegedly violating the NCAA’s sports gambling policy.
Hanika is being accused of making 70 bets on Iowa State basketball games alone and up to 288 bets in total. These wagers came out to $1,262.
Hanika’s wagers reportedly included betting on an Iowa State sporting event, but the report indicates this did not include any Cyclones football games.
- DeShawn Hanika’s stats last season: 17 receptions, 244 receiving yards, 4 TD
Hanika has also been charged with tampering with records in the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s recent gambling probe, along with Jirehl Brock, Isaiah Lee, and Jacob Remsburg. Other Iowa State alumni including Hunter Dekkers, Enyi Uwazurike, and Dodge Sauser, were also previously charged with tampering.
As for Hanika, the 6-foot-6 senior had one year of eligibility left prior to the suspension, but he will be appealing the penalty.
The NCAA recently tweaked its rules and regulations, which now include a section about the possibility of a permanent loss of eligibility for an athlete found guilty of influencing a game’s result for the purpose of making a wager, along with other betting-related violations. The NCAA’s guidelines indicate any player found guilty of betting on their own sport (even if it’s not their own team) can be suspended for half of the college football season.
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