Hunter Dekkers among 4 linked to Iowa State gambling, charged with tampering

Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers has been accused of betting on occasions involving the Cyclones, together with a 2021 soccer sport, and is amongst 4 present or former athletes on the college charged with tampering with information associated to an ongoing investigation by the Iowa Felony Division.

An affidavit included with the prison grievance filed Monday within the Iowa District Court docket for Story County alleges roughly 366 bets totaling $2,799 had been positioned on a DraftKings sportsbook account linked to Dekkers, together with 26 on Iowa State sporting occasions.

The affidavit alleges he wager on an Iowa State soccer sport in opposition to Oklahoma State on Oct. 23, 2021. Dekkers didn’t play within the Huge 12 contest, and the affidavit doesn’t reveal which workforce or what sort of wager he made on the sport, which the Cyclones received 24-21.

The affidavit alleges Dekkers was below 21, the authorized betting age in Iowa, when a lot of the bets had been positioned however that he disguised his id with the assistance of his dad and mom, Scott and Jami Dekkers.

DraftKings didn’t reply to a request for remark.

Dekkers, a junior, began all 12 video games final season for the Cyclones and was their anticipated starter for 2023.

In an announcement, Dekkers’ lawyer stated the quarterback will plead not responsible to the cost however within the meantime will step away from the workforce.

“So he can give attention to his research and on the protection of this prison cost, Hunter has knowledgeable the College and the teaching employees that he can’t take part in fall soccer camp,” lawyer Mark Weinhardt stated.

Iowa State opens its season Sept. 2 in opposition to Northern Iowa. The college lacks a lot confirmed depth behind Dekkers. Redshirt freshman Rocco Becht had been in line to again him up, and Iowa State added Tanner Hughes, a switch from Butte Faculty in California. The Cyclones additionally introduced in J.J. Kohl, ESPN’s No. 8 pocket passer and No. 111 general recruit within the 2023 class.

The NCAA lately up to date its penalties for student-athletes who violate its playing coverage. Those that wager on their very own video games or different sports activities at their college face a possible everlasting lack of collegiate eligibility.

Present Iowa State athletes Paniro Johnson, a sophomore wrestler, and Dodge Sauser, a sophomore soccer participant, in addition to former Cyclones soccer participant Eyioma Uwazurike even have been charged with tampering with information, an aggravated misdemeanor, in keeping with the prison grievance, which was first reported by the Des Moines Register.

Sauser made roughly 113 on-line bets value $3,075, with 12 wagers on Iowa State soccer video games, in keeping with information.

Johnson, who received a Huge 12 wrestling title final yr as a freshman, is alleged to have positioned about 1,283 bets on-line value greater than $45,600, in keeping with the grievance. There have been roughly 25 bets on Iowa State athletic occasions.

The grievance in opposition to Uwazurike alleges he made 801 bets on-line for greater than $21,300, with 4 wagers on Iowa State soccer video games.

Final week, Uwazurike, a fourth-round choose of the Denver Broncos in 2022, was suspended indefinitely for violating the NFL’s playing coverage, with the league saying he wager on video games his rookie season. The grievance says Uwazurike positioned roughly 32 wagers on Broncos occasions and particular person Denver gamers. In whole, in keeping with the grievance, Uwazurike positioned bets on 5 Broncos video games.

“We’re within the means of gathering info and could have no additional remark presently,” Iowa State senior affiliate athletic director Nick Joos stated in an announcement Tuesday.

The Iowa Division of Felony Investigation and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Fee didn’t reply to requests from ESPN for remark.

In Could, college officers at Iowa State and the College of Iowa acknowledged that 41 student-athletes between the colleges had been suspected of violating playing guidelines.

Iowa kicker Aaron Blom additionally faces a cost of tampering with information after partaking in sports activities wagering whereas underage and concealing his id.

In line with a prison grievance from Johnson County filed Tuesday, Blom made roughly 170 underage sports activities wagers whereas utilizing his mom’s identify on a DraftKings account, together with a single wager on Iowa’s 2021 soccer sport in opposition to Iowa State. The affidavit states Blom wager on the “below factors whole” of 45, which hit efficiently in a 27-17 Hawkeyes win.

Blom, who didn’t play in 2021, is alleged to have wagered on “roughly eight” Iowa athletic occasions, and his collective wagers totaled greater than $4,400.

The grievance states that each Blom and his mom, Michelle, spoke to state investigators, and Michelle admitted that she knew Aaron was utilizing the DraftKings account registered to her identify to make the wagers. Aaron Blom is coming into his fourth yr within the Iowa program.

Info from ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg and Paula Lavigne and The Related Press was used on this report.

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