Aug. 12 (UPI) — The University of Oklahoma’s likely starting quarterback, John Mateer, denied betting on sports while a freshman at Washington State University in 2022.
Screenshots of Mateer’s Venmo account show two transactions on the mobile payment app Venmo that were made on Nov. 20, 2022, and are labeled “sports gambling,” NBC News reported on Tuesday.
“The allegations that I once participated in sports gambling are false,” Mateer said in a social media post on Tuesday.
“My previous Venmo descriptions did not accurately portray the transactions in question but were instead inside jokes between me and my friends,” he added.
Mateer denied ever betting on sports and said his Venmo posts are “taken out of context.”
“I can assure my teammates, coaches and officials at the NCAA that I have not engaged in any sports gambling,” he concluded.
The Venmo transactions that reference sports bets were made to an account for someone using the name Richard Roaten.
One was labeled “sports gambling (UCLA vs USC),” which references a football game played a day earlier and won by USC by a score of 48-45.
Sports betting wagers are not laid after a game is played.
Mateer became the starting quarterback for Washington State in 2024 and completed 29 touchdown passes and rushed for 15 more.
He transferred to Oklahoma in the offseason and is projected to be its starter.
The university’s athletics department issued a statement on the matter in which it cites “ongoing education to its student-athletes, coaches and staff on matters related to sports gambling,” Fox News reported.
“The department utilizes ProhiBet, which is an industry-standard service offering comprehensive monitoring of sports gambling activities,” the university said in the statement.
“OU takes any allegations of gambling seriously and works closely with the NCAA in any situations of concern.”
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