Tua Tagovailoa – Noteworthy
Kent Syverud is just starting to realize the magnitude of the task ahead. Syracuse’s president is chair of an NCAA committee charged with asking nearly every school in the country to reveal its deepest, darkest athletic secrets. That is, providing accurate, reliable injury information about its athletes. “We are specifically charged with looking at the issue of player availability reporting,” Syverud told CBS Sports this week, “and that’s just one aspect of it.” Nine months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states can legalize sports gambling, the NCAA seems to have quietly taken over the duty of closing what some consider a giant loophole in legitimizing the college games on which you wager.
Syverud is chair of the 13-member NCAA Board of Governors Ad Hoc Committee on Sports Wagering charged, for now, to work with schools to develop weekly injury reports. It’s never been much of an issue before. But with the Supreme Court decision in May 2018, the lack of mandatory injury reports in college athletics quickly became a huge concern. “Paying players, paying sources of information, paying trainers – [with injury reports] you insulate yourself from that,” said Tom McMillen, president and CEO of Lead1 Association, which represents FBS athletic directors. “That’s why the Security and Exchange Commission put in very tough insider trading laws. It will destroy the integrity of your market if you don’t.” Gambling experts will tell you that legal sports betting cannot succeed nationally without college injury reports similar to those in the NFL. Now comes the hard part: Convincing hundreds of NCAA schools to share their injury information. – WDEF News
*Deionte Thompson – Noteworthy
Alabama All-American safety Deionte Thompson is expected to miss the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine after undergoing wrist surgery, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Saturday. The surgery was performed Friday to repair a torn ligament in Thompson’s wrist, and he is not anticipated to have any lasting problems, Rapoport said. Thompson is expected to be one of the first safeties off the board at the NFL draft in April. In his three seasons at Alabama, Thompson had 112 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and three interceptions. Alabama’s pro day is set for March 19, but it is unknown whether Thompson will be able to participate. The combine will be held Feb. 26-March 4 in Indianapolis. – Field Level Media
*Quinnen Williams – Noteworthy
Mock draft season is here and the opinions vary the week before the NFL combine in Indianapolis. Six different Alabama players appeared in at least one of the 15 projections we surveyed entering next week’s tryout. Defensive Quinnen Williams is the first Crimson Tide player taken on all 15 mock drafts — three of which had him going No. 1 overall. Offensive tackle Jonah Williams is next to go in almost all of the forecasts. – Birmingham News