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After a betting scandal rocked the NBA - exposing how players and coaches allegedly colluded to fix sports bets and card games - the NCAA is pushing off adopting a rule bringing gambling into their own ranks.
The collegiate sports governing body was set to allow athletes and athletic department staff members to bet on professional sports beginning November 1.
However, following the shocking revelation of the FBI's operation which led to the arrests of Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, the league is now pushing that new rule to be adopted on November 22.
The rule will still ban college athletes and athletic department staffers from betting on college sports.
Pushing back the new guideline comes after multiple college sports leaders - including Southeastern Conference (SEC) commissioner Greg Sankey - expressed concern about the new betting rule.
There is still a way for the rule to be thrown out altogether. A rarely used statute allows 30 days for each Division I school to vote to rescind a proposal if said proposal was adopted by less than 75 percent of the D-I cabinet. This betting rule was below that threshold.
The NCAA is pushing back the adoption of a new rule which would allow college athletes and athletic department personnel to place wagers on professional sporting events
That delay comes after the FBI arrested 34 people in connection with a vast conspiracy to fix poker games and sports bets. Among the arrested includes Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.
Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups was also arrested by the FBI
Not only is betting on college sports banned under NCAA rules, but the governing body also bans sharing information about college competitions with bettors.
The decision to push back the implementation of the rule comes less than a week after an FBI investigation led to the arrests of 34 people on charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, money laundering, extortion and illegal gambling among others.
In addition to Billups and Rozier, former Cleveland Cavaliers player Damon Jones was also arrested.
The arrests concerned two different, but connected, fixing operations - one which involved the rigging of poker games, the other an alleged insider sports-betting scheme.
Rozier was arrested for the sports-betting scheme. The guard was accused of purposely underperforming and faking injuries in order for 'under' prop bets to hit.
Billups was allegedly involved in a vast conspiracy to rig various card games which were tied back to mafia operations.
