$327K in gambling bets gets NCAA volleyball coach two-year show-cause

A former Big Ten volleyball coach received a two-year show-cause order from the NCAA for impermissible bets on professional and collegiate sports over a five-month period.

Brett Agne is a former assistant coach for Indiana’s women’s volleyball team. He was dismissed from the program in 2023 in his third season as an assistant coach and technical coordinator for the Hoosiers. He is now a coach for Indy Ignite in Major League Volleyball.

According to findings released by the NCAA, Agne didn’t bet on Indiana volleyball, but did place wagers on other Indiana sports, including a combined 27 bets on Hoosiers football and men’s basketball. The NCAA says that Agne placed more than 700 bets via online sportsbooks totaling $327,000.

As of Nov. 22, NCAA rules will no longer prohibit college players and coaches from betting on professional sports, but wagering on college sports is still banned. Some college leaders, like SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, have expressed concern over that change.

The NCAA’s report says that Agne tried to make the case that he was using “an unregulated computer program to place bets on games automatically based on an algorithm, and as a result, he was not aware of which games he was betting on.”

Per Agne’s show-cause order, if a college program were to hire him within the next two years, he would have to serve a 10-game suspension and complete “meaningful sports betting education and provide sports betting education to his peers.”

Indy Ignite director of communications Cathy Kightlinger told the Indy Star: “We are aware of this report and we have no further comment right now.” The Hoosiers did not give a comment to the Indy Star.

Agne has previously worked with USA Volleyball twice and was also an assistant coach at Toledo before joining Indiana. In 2023, Agne was named to Volleyball Magazine’s Under 40 College Coaching Hotshots list.