With NCAA President Charlie Baker urging stats with legalized gambling to halt "prop bets" and the NBA investigating an active player for potential gambling misdeeds, not to mention MLB's ongoing investigation into international star Shohei Ohtani's fired interpreter for illicit gambling, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin shared how his program has prepared players.
Turns out, Kiffin borrowed a page from his good friend, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
"I don’t have a ton of knowledge in that area, so when I don’t, we bring people in for that," Kiffin said after his Ole Miss team's Tuesday practice. "So, we had someone speak to our coaches in Destin, the SEC coaches about this, a year ago [at SEC Spring Meetings], and I thought that they did a great job. They’ve worked with the NFL, they’ve worked with other colleges and they were people that knew how it worked."
Kiffin explained that the group he first heard from in Florida and then invited to Oxford, Mississippi, had the ability to pinpoint-track data.
"They were able to get the alerts and track where the players and where the bets come from and their phones or the girlfriend’s phone," Kiffin said, "and they did such a good job that we brought them in here before the (2023) season to talk to our guys about that."
Johntay Porter is the NBA player in question, and the American Gaming Association last year projected that more than $15 billion would be wagered just on NCAA March Madness.
Baker last week issued a statement that urged states with legalized gambling to reexamine prop bets -- wagers than hinge often on individual performance as opposed to game outcome -- and consider eliminating them for collegiate contests.
“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity of competition," Baker's social media statement said, "and leading to student-athletes getting harassed.
"The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.”
Thus far, Maryland, Ohio and Vermont have eliminated prop bets on individual collegiate performances.
The SEC has been bringing in outside experts to educate their coaches, administrators and other officials at the league's annual spring gather as far back as 2018.
Kiffin reiterated a direct approach for his players.
"It’s just another one of those things out there that guys gotta understand," Kiffin said. "Protect the team, protect themselves, and protect the team."
Still, Kiffin couldn't resist in his press gathering fondly recalling his biggest win in his one-year turn as Tennessee Vols head coach in 2009; the Vols hammered the Bulldogs, 45-19, inside Neyland Stadium.
Georgia's quarterback that day, Joe Cox, now is Kiffin's tight ends coach.
"Speaking of bets, in that ['09] game, because the score was like 45-19, we beat Georgia," Kiffin said, whose father, Monte Kiffin, was the Vols defensive coordinator at the time and Ed Orgeron was assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator. "But I’m like I feel like they never crossed the 30-yard line, so how did they score 19 points?
"We looked it up, and there was a kick-off return for a touchdown, punt return for a touchdown, a 50-plus yard field goal and a safety.
"That’s got to be a pretty hard gambling side bet for that to happen; prop bet, that would pay well."
Kiffin's recollection is nearly spot-on; the Bulldogs' offense never advanced beyond Tennessee's 34-yard line, and all the visitors' points came via kickoff return, an interception return, 52-yard field goal and safety.
It was in the week leading into that game that Kiffin called his shot to people on the UT campus: He guaranteed Vols quarterback Jonathan Crompton would be the SEC's Offensive Player of the Week.
After throwing for 310 yards and four touchdowns on 20-for-27 passing in the win, Crompton on Monday following the game was, indeed, named the SEC's top offensive player.