Don’t cross the betting line, NCAA athletes deserve better

Ronnie Chiu-Lin / THE GATEPOST

By Kyra Tolley Editorial Staff Big East Player of the Year RJ Luis Jr. deleted his Instagram account after his team, the St. John’s Red Storm, lost in the second round of March Madness, according to Athlon Sports. He experienced an intense flood of harassment and online abuse from bettors who lost money. This harassment is pervasive and extremely detrimental to student-athletes’ mental health. ESPN reported Luis averaged 18.2 points per game during the 2024-25 season, but he scored 9 in the game that ended the team’s season, shattering people’s bets related to his performance. Nobody should be receiving death threats, especially not student-athletes who are just trying to play their best in an environment they’ve never experienced before. A study conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association found one in three collegiate athletes were victims of sports-betting related harassment. Many players have voiced their concern over death threats they have received during this year’s March Madness tournament. In the lead up to the tournament, Oumar Ballo of Indiana University and Zeke Mayo of the University of Kansas lost games that resulted in waves of hate and death threats toward them both. Ballo spoke to the media in a post-game interview where he expressed how “mentally draining” it is to receive this kind of harassment. According to The Athletic, a game between the University of Kansas and Texas Tech University started a spew of violent and racist hate toward Mayo. After a win against Yale, Texas A&M’s Jace Carter spoke in a locker room interview about the abuse he had been receiving from fans. ESPN reported Carter said, "It’s been crazy. Been getting death threats, people calling me racial slurs, all types of stuff because I'm missing free throws, missing shots.” As a former athlete, I can’t imagine trying to perform at my best on a national stage where thousands of people are free to give their unfiltered opinions about the way you played in each game, even going as far as to send personal abusive messages. The recent legalization of online sports betting in different states across the country has amplified the amount of hate players get and has also made the hate more severe. According to the NCAA, “An estimated $3.1 billion will be legally bet on this year's basketball tournaments, doubling the amount bet on the Super Bowl.” With the variation in sports-betting laws from state to state, there are different regulations in place that could potentially help or hurt these athletes. Massachusetts has stricter rules around sports betting than many other states. According to DraftKings, prop bets on collegiate athletes and betting on in-state college teams is illegal in Massachusetts. Prop bets allow a bettor to wager on specific player statistics, such as how many points, rebounds, and assists a certain player will record in a game. Prop bets on college athletes should be illegal everywhere and the remaining states who have maintained the legalization of this type of bet need to follow in the footsteps of the states who have banned it. Student-athlete physical and mental well-being depends on it. Sometimes, we forget that these incredible athletes are still students, as young as 18. Luis is 22 years old - my age. Division I athletes are already under enough pressure trying to juggle an elite level of athletics, difficult academics, a social life, and finances. They don’t need online abuse to be added to the plate. Some may argue that because Division I athletes can now make money off name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals, they should be prepared for the hate that is associated with betting, now that they profit off their status. While some student-athletes can make millions of dollars off NIL deals, the average total earnings per athlete from these deals is only $21,331 per year, which equates to $25.35 below the United States’ average hourly wage, according to Sports Illustrated. No sum of money stops death threats from hurting someone’s mental health or even their performance on the court. We owe it to the sports we love so much to treat the athletes who play them like humans, not as punching bags for lost bets.