AP/Lang
8/10/23
Three current or former Iowa football players and a student assistant have been charged in connection with the state’s investigation into illegal sports wagering.
A total of 15 football and basketball players and staffers with ties to Iowa and Iowa State have been charged since last week in the ongoing investigation. Current athletes face a loss of eligibility for violating NCAA gambling rules. Several players are accused of tampering with records to disguise that they were under the legal betting age of 21 at the time they placed wagers.
Former Iowa players Arland Bruce IV and Reggie Bracy, current Iowa player Jack Johnson and student assistant Owen O’Brien face charges in Johnson County.
Bruce, a receiver who started 12 of 25 games before transferring to Oklahoma State, made 132 bets totaling $4,342 with DraftKings. Among those were wagers on six Iowa football games in 2021 and six more games last season. Bruce played in each of the games. His account was registered under the name of Vincent Bruce, whose relationship to Arland was not listed.
Bracy, a defensive back who is now at Troy, used the DraftKings account registered to Vincent Bruce to place 66 bets totaling $715 between February and November 2022. He made eight bets on Iowa sporting events, including two football games in which he played.
Johnson, a walk-on receiver, made 480 bets totaling over $2,500 with DraftKings between September 2021 and January 2023. Of the bets, about 380 totaling $1,800 were made before he was of legal age. All were on an account registered under the name of his mother, Jill Johnson.
O’Brien was a student assistant prior to becoming a graduate assistant in December. O’Brien made 350 wagers totaling over $3,047 with FanDuel between March 2021 and December 2022. All were on an account registered under the name of his mother, Audra O’Brien.
The Des Moines Register was first to report the latest charges.
Iowa spokesman Matthew Weitzel said the university had no comment. He said he expected football coach Kirk Ferentz to address the issue at the team’s media day Friday.
Last week, charges were filed against Iowa State starting quarterback Hunter Dekkers, ISU offensive lineman Dodge Sauser, ISU wrestler Panioro Johnson, former ISU defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike, former Iowa basketball player Ahron Ulis, Iowa baseball player Gehrig Christensen and Iowa kicker Aaron Blom.