Iowa State star Jirehl Brock is one of four football players charged with illegal sports gambling. Isaiah Lee is accused of betting against his own team in the latest twist
Jirehl Brock and three other Iowa State football players, along with three current or former Iowa State football players and a student assistant, were charged Thursday in connection with the state’s investigation into illegal sports betting at the two schools.
A total of 15 football and basketball players and staff associated with the schools have been charged since last week as part of the ongoing investigation. Current athletes face ineligibility for violating NCAA gambling rules.
Brock and his ISU teammates Isaiah Lee, DeShawn Hanika and Jacob Remsburg have been charged in Story County on suspicion of tampering with records to disguise that they were under the legal betting age of 21 at the time the bet was placed.
Former Iowa players Arland Bruce IV and Reggie Bracy, current Iowa player Jack Johnson, and student assistant Owen O’Brien all face the same charges in Johnson County.
Iowa’s Jirehl Brock was one of several gamblers charged in connection with illegal betting
According to court documents:
- Brock, the Cyclones’ leading rusher last season, placed 1,327 illegal bets between February 2022 and February 2023 totaling over $12,000. The bets were placed on a FanDuel account controlled by him but registered under the name Lindzey Paysen. Paysen’s relationship with Brock was unknown.
- Brock is accused of placing bets on three Iowa State University football games, two of which he played himself, and 13 ISU basketball games.
- Lee, a defensive lineman, has made 115 appearances totaling over $885 on FanDuel between September 2021 and January 2023. That included 21 bets on seven ISU football games in 2021 and five more games in 2022. He attended each of the games and is accused of betting that Texas will beat the Cyclones in 2021. His account was registered in the name of a woman described as his fiancee Kayla Cameron.
- Hanika, a tight end, placed 288 bets totaling $1,262 between March 2022 and April 2023 through DraftKings, including 70 on ISU basketball games. His account was registered in the name of his mother, Kim Hanika. Remsburg, an offensive lineman, made 273 appearances totaling $1,108 between May 2022 and February 2023 via FanDuel. Six bets involved ISU basketball and soccer games.
- Remsburg’s account was registered under the name Keri Remsburg. The filing also referred to a DraftKings account registered under his mother’s name, Keri Meis. It was unclear whether Keri Remsburg and Keri Meis are the same person.
- Bruce, a receiver who started 12 of 25 games before moving to Oklahoma State, had 132 bets totaling $4,342 at DraftKings. These included bets on six Iowa football games in 2021 and six other games last season. Bruce played in each of the games. His account was registered under the name of Vincent Bruce, whose relationship with Arland was not listed.
Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers has also been accused of playing at Cyclones sporting events
Bracy, a defensive back who now plays for Troy, used the DraftKings account registered with Vincent Bruce to place 66 bets totaling $715 between February and November 2022. He placed eight bets on Iowa sporting events, including two football games in which he attended.
Johnson, a walk-on receiver, has placed 480 bets totaling over $2,500 at DraftKings between September 2021 and January 2023. Of the bets, about 380 totaling $1,800 were made before he was of legal age. All had an account registered in the name of his mother, Jill Johnson.
O’Brien was a student assistant before taking on the position of research assistant in December. Between March 2021 and December 2022, O’Brien made 350 bets totaling over $3,047 with FanDuel. All were in an account registered in the name of his mother, Audra O’Brien.
No attorneys were listed in the filing. The Des Moines Register was the first to report the latest indictments.
The state of Iowa acknowledged about 15 of its athletes across three sports are also suspects
“Since May, Iowa State University became aware of potential NCAA eligibility issues related to sports betting by several of our student athletes, and has been actively working to address these issues with the student athletes involved, and that process is ongoing,” said Iowa Das the state’s senior athletics director Nick Joos said in a statement.
“We will continue to support our student-athletes while our compliance staff works with the NCAA to resolve issues related to their future eligibility for track and field competitions.”
Iowa spokesman Matthew Weitzel said the university had no comment. He said he expects football coach Kirk Ferentz to address the issue at the team’s media day on Friday.
Last week, indictments 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 raised.