Former Kentucky assistant Brad Bohannon receives 15-year show cause from NCAA

Brad Bohannon spent 12 years at Kentucky from 2004-15 serving as an assistant coach under head coaches John Cohen (2004-08) and Gary Henderson (2009-15) before getting an opportunity to run his own SEC program at Alabama. But his coaching career might now be over.

On Thursday, the NCAA hit the former Alabama head coach with a 15-year show cause. That penalty restricts restricts any member institution in the NCAA from hiring Bohannon to any athletically related position. Should they hire him during the show cause period, Bohannon will be suspended for the first five seasons of his employment.

“Integrity of games is of the utmost importance to NCAA members, and the panel is deeply troubled by Bohannon’s unethical behavior,” said Vince Nicastro, deputy commissioner and chief operating officer of the Big East and chief hearing officer for the panel. “Coaches, student-athletes and administrators have access to information deemed valuable to those involved in betting. Improperly sharing that information for purposes of sports betting cuts to the heart of the honesty and sportsmanship we expect of our members and is particularly egregious when shared by those who have the ability to influence the outcome of games.”

Brad Bohannon was fired back in May during his sixth season with Alabama when allegations arose regarding a large bet placed on an Alabama-LSU game at a Cincinnati sportsbook. There was an attempted $100,000 wager placed on the game following communications with Bohannon. The staff at the sportsbook limited the bettor to a $15,000 wager, according to the NCAA. The bettor was then declined additional bets due to suspicious activity that apparently included the bettor telling staff his bet was “for sure going to win” and “if only you guys knew what I knew”. Texts from Bohannon were also shown to the sportsbook staff.

Expected Alabama starting pitcher Luke Holman was a late scratch for the game against LSU. Alabama was also hit with a $5,000 fine.