Jamie Pollard releases statement on Iowa State's involvement in sports gambling investigation

Multiple current and former Iowa State football players were found to have been placing illegal wagers on Cyclone and other sports games earlier this year, continuing a recent trend of gambling issues within college athletics.

Iowa State Director of Athletics Jamie Pollard has since released a statement on the findings of the investigation:

“Since becoming aware of potential NCAA eligibility issues related to sports wagering by several of our student-athletes in May, low State University has been actively working to address these issues with the involved student-athletes. This process is ongoing and will take time before being completely resolved.

“lowa State cannot comment on any student-athletes’ circumstance or eligibility status. We will, however, continue to support our student-athletes as our compliance staff works with the NCAA to sort out questions surrounding their future eligibility for intercollegiate athletics competition.

“Iowa State Athletics educates its student-athletes, coaches and staff on NCAA rules and State of Iowa law surrounding sports wagering and will continue to emphasize the importance of understanding and adhering to these regulations moving forward.”

Hunter Dekkers releases statement on gambling accusations

The criminal charge, which is for “tampering with records related to” the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s inquiry into gambling at Iowa State, potentially stems from Dekkers using an online betting account under one of his parents names. The statement from his attorney says the criminal charge is an attempt to “criminalize a daily fact of American life.”

The report had also added that Dekkers won’t participate in fall football camp with Iowa State so he can “focus on his studies and on the defense of this criminal charge.”

It went on, stating the charge interferes with business of Iowa State and the NCAA and also politicizing it. It went to argue that the investigations at Iowa State and Iowa are the “tip of an iceberg” and that thousands of other bets are placed by athletes on shared accounts around the country.

The statement acknowledge the investigation has been ongoing since may and revealed that investigators from the state of Iowa executed search warrants both for Dekkers’ apartment in Ames and the families home in Iowa.

“The investigation has been an immense distraction from Hunter’s ability to be a good student and a great teammate. Hunter greatly appreciates the cooperation and support of Iowa State University and Coach [Matt] Campbell and his staff during these events,” the statement said.

On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.