The Notre Dame men’s swimming program has been suspended for a minimum of one academic year after an investigation into gambling, the school announced yesterday.
The school announced in June that an outside law firm would be investigating the men’s program. Sources say that the investigation has been ongoing at least since January and from what it sounds like, the swimmers practically ran their own sportsbook.
Link To Full School Statement
Here are some of the top questions that remain after the announcement:
- What was the scale of the dollars involved?
- NCAA rules indicate different levels of severity depending on the type of sport(s) and dollar amount(s) of the betting. More severe punishments are given for athletes who influence their own games/meets. Athletes so far have downplayed the amount of money involved, presenting it as small, silly bets, while the administration painted it more as a full-blown sportsbook.
- What does “full suspension” mean? Are practices included, are just meets included?
- The school statement said, “The overwhelming cultural dynamic on the team necessitates a full suspension. We profoundly regret that the small number of team members who did not participate in the conduct, and those who were planning on joining the team this fall, will also suffer the consequences of this decision.”
- If these athletes can participate in practice of some sort, can they participate in club (USA Swimming) meets, and how will they be coached? Can they join the Notre Dame Collegiate Club Team or compete at the Collegiate Club National Championships? The latter seems unlikely, as this would still fall under the purview of Notre Dame’s administration, which applied the suspension in the first place.
- What are the rules for transferring or redshirting in a situation like this?
- The NCAA 2023-2024 Division I manual states in 10.4 that “Prospective or enrolled student-athletes found in violation of the provisions of this regulation shall be ineligible for further intercollegiate competition, subject to appeal to the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for restoration of eligibility”
- As it is the full team being put on suspension and not individual athletes, can individual athletes that have been found to not participate in the gambling, transfer to compete under another team? The NCAA transfer portal deadline was May 3rd for the men which makes transferring with immediate eligibility difficult, leading to the question of could transfer athletes (or athletes staying at Notre Dame) redshirt the entire year? Does the ability to redshirt depend on whether or not the athletes participated in the gambling?
- Can the incoming student-athletes receive full releases from their NLIs?
- What does this mean for potential fifth-year athletes?
- The Notre Dame men had numerous fifth year athletes this past season so it is not uncommon for the team to have fifth years.
- Do the athletes still receive their scholarships for this year?
- Could further consequences be incoming? Specifically legal consequences?
- If the athletes are right, and these were just small bets, it’s unlikely that federal authorities will find it worth their time to get involved.
- What happens to the team’s best swimmer, Chris Guiliano?
- The timing couldn’t be worse for Guiliano, who won gold and silver at the Olympics and is going to be one of the central figures for American swimming heading toward the Los Angeles Olympics. Will he transfer? Will he go pro? How does this impact endorsements or NLI money for him, and how does that play into his decision-making?
F this administration. A bunch of hypocrites. Found their escape goat. This is why I hate NCAA and college administrators.
Controversial opinion: If swimmers want to be treated and paid as employees, then they should expect management to be harsher to them. After the recent rulings, i think we need to view university as running a company/business. In the commercial world, of course management and the higher-ups is going to treat the departments that are bringing in more income (football/basketball) mote favorably. And the departments/teams that are losing money will be on high alert, or even the firing squad. What college swimming need to do is find ways to make money, albeit from making the format more exciting, bringing in more fundraising/tickets/viewers/NIL deals. University is not a charity in this day and age. If you want to be an employee,… Read more »
I get everything you’re saying, but I dont think it’s fair/true that ‘swimmers want to be treated and paid as employees’. I think there’s been a real move in the comments around here to blame the athletes for what’s coming, and I think it over simplifies and shifts the blame in unfair ways.
Chris G. should declare his status as “pro” and get a six figure sponsorship deal with Fan Duel or Draft Kings and go train down at Texas with Bob Bowman and cash in big with a few more golds in LA. The luck of the Irish is with you, good luck!
Going into a home Olympic quad could high level USA Swimming, USOC and NBC officials maybe throw their weight around behind the scenes to influence Notre Dame and the NCAA to make it easier for Guiliano to transfer? If he wasn’t involved it seems like punishing and interrupting the training of one of the country’s most promising potential stars in one of the biggest Olympic sports isn’t good for anyone.
I think USOC has better and more urgent things to do and deal with than this lol
lol no kidding. This doesn’t hurt his Olympic potential for 2028, it’s just a bump in the road. All athletes have their own various obstacles
It’s just phone call. NBC probably talks to ND every week anyway.
NBC doesn’t give a second thought to Chris. The revenue he generates is a drop in the bucket compared to a Tide Cold Call comercial on Saturday in the fall
Funny I pulled this up on the way to the casino
another L decision by the ncaa. this is why swimming isn’t a “fun” sport :/ we will never be able to grow if we are this strict
The double standards remain rampant among men’s college sports. The overreaction to instances like this while spoiled brats in basketball and football at bloated D1 Power 5 athletic behemoths continue to pull the $tring$ on athletic departments is sickening.
Not sure that it’s entirely true to say that basketball and football athletes get free passes in cases like this: https://www.hawkcentral.com/story/sports/college/iowa/2023/09/09/iowa-iowa-state-betting-scandal-hawkeyes-cyclones-suspended/70778774007/
Poor comparison because individuals were punished in your example versus an entire team. If anything this supports Bull’s point…
it sucks because there are no rules specifically about internal betting amongst the team (which seems way less harmful to me) and NCAA rules about betting in general seem to assume you’re betting externally and punish accordingly. i understand the suspension isn’t from the NCAA, but i’m sure their guidelines influenced the decision to some extent.
I’m not sure the rules specify “no outside gambling” anywhere. I couldn’t find that specification, anyway.
https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2016/4/29/sports-wagering.aspx