Nebraska point guard Ahron Ulis among those charged in Iowa, Iowa State gambling probe

Nebraska point guard Ahron Ulis among seven individual charged in relation to an ongoing probe by Iowa authorities into improper sports wagering at Iowa State and Iowa Universities, respectively, the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation announced on Wednesday. Ulis played for Iowa prior to transferring to Nebraska ahead of this season.

According to Chad Leistikow of the Des Moines Register, Ulis used a FanDuel account under the name “Anton Porter” to place bets, including some while underaged. According to documents filed by prosecutors, Ulis made 1850 bets for nearly $35,000 and did bet on NCAA basketball and at least one Iowa game.

Each of the seven accused are facing one count of “Tampering with Records” related to the investigation, a misdemeanor. Ulis was charged in Johnson County, Iowa, along with two others.

The other four individuals were charged in Story County, Iowa, which includes Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers.

Ulis was not playing for Nebraska on it’s current overseas trip for reasons that head coach Fred Hoiberg did not disclose.

“We’re gathering information on a situation that Ahron is dealing with and right now that’s all I can say about that matter,” Hoiberg said to reporters.

Ulis is the younger brother of former Kentucky star guard Tyler Ulis.

The Iowa Gaming Commission previously said there wasn’t evidence gambling on Iowa State or Iowa games

The head of the Iowa Gaming Commission said in May that there was no evidence to suggest that either Iowa and Iowa State athletes bet on their own respective games. That statement came about amid investigations into both programs.

Brian Ohorilko told The Action Network there’s no evidence to suggest there was any suspicious wagering activity on games. News broke in May of investigations into 41 student-athletes — 26 at Iowa and 15 at Iowa State — for allegations involving online sports gambling. Based on the commission’s findings early on, those athletes didn’t engage in suspicious wagering activity or match fixing.

“We review the types of wagers that come in and how suspicious they are,” Ohorilko said. “We have no reason to believe that there’s anything like that here.”

Ohorilko said he didn’t expect a betting halt on Iowa or Iowa State sports as a result of this investigation.

“There wasn’t anything giving us pause or leading us to believe that any of these markets were compromised,” Ohorilko said.

Evidently, the Iowa DCI turned up some new evidence showing the depth and breadth of the alleged misconduct, including bets placed by Iowa and Iowa State athletes on their respective schools teams.