Razorback Report: SEC commissioner flexes muscles in letter to NCAA

Your daily briefing on what's going on with Arkansas athletics

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey talks with the media during SEC Media Days at Grand Bohemian Hotel. | Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — If any Arkansas players were hoping to dip their toes into the risky world of sports gambling when it becomes OK in less than a month, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has something to say.

Last week, the NCAA approved a rule change to allow college athletes, coaches and anyone else associated with a collegiate program to participate in legalized sports betting on professional games.

That announcement came before an FBI investigation into mafia-linked gambling and sports rigging results in the arrests of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.

A few days following the NBA-related gambling arrests, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a let to the NCAA arguing for a reversal of its approved rule change.

"On behalf of our universities, I write to urge action by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors to rescind this change and reaffirm the Association's commitment to maintaining strong national standards that keep collegiate participants separated from sports wagering activity at every level," Sankey wrote. "If there are legal or practical concerns about the prior policy, those should be addressed through careful refinement — not through wholesale removal of the guardrails that have long supported the integrity of games and the well-being of those who participate."

Sankey’s letter didn’t accomplish all of its goals, but it did put the rule change on hold after the NCAA’s Division I Board voted Tuesday to delay the change until Nov. 22.

The legalization of sports gambling has, unsurprisingly, led to unintended consequences.

In September, the NCAA announced that a Fresno State men's basketball player had manipulated his own performance for gambling purposes and conspired with two other players in a prop betting scheme. The NCAA is investigating 13 additional players from six schools regarding potential gambling violations dealing with integrity issues.

And that’s likely just the tip of the iceberg.

Should the change be fully adopted, it still wouldn’t allow college athletes to place wagers on collegiate games.

"The SEC's Presidents and Chancellors believe the NCAA should restore its prior policy — or a modified policy — communicating a prohibition on gambling by student-athletes and athletics staff, regardless of the divisional level of their sport," Sankey wrote. "While developing and enacting campus or conference-level policy may be considered, the NCAA's policy has long stood as an expression of our collective integrity, and its removal sends the wrong signal at a time when the gambling industry is expanding its reach and influence."

It’s hard to ignore the impact the NBA’s gambling scandal has had on other programs and teams. Sankey may have already been opposed to the rule change, but it doesn’t matter where he stood prior after his Tuesday night letter.

Yesterday’s Results

• No games scheduled.

Today’s Schedule

• Volleyball: Arkansas at Oklahoma, 6 p.m., SEC Network
• Softball: Razorbacks Unlimited (DH), 6:45 p.m.

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We’ll Leave You With This

"SEC Roll Call" features frightening repetition in Hogs' schedule.