Iowa All-America wrestler Nelson Brands, who was suspended by the NCAA last season for sports betting, has been granted an extra year of eligibility.
Brands announced Tuesday night on social media that he will return for the 2024-25 season, joking that Kenny Rogers' hit “The Gambler” should accompany his return to the mat.
Hello Siri, play The Gambler by Kenny Rogers.
I'm thrilled to be representing the black and gold for the final season! pic.twitter.com/7KRpDpFlHY
– Nelson “The Player” Brands (@nelson_brands) May 21, 2024
Brands, nephew of Iowa coach Tom Brands and son of Hawkeyes associate head coach Terry Brands, requested a medical hardship waiver after a torn ulnar collateral ligament shortened his 2021-22 season. Nelson earned All-America honors during the 2022-23 season and finished fifth at the NCAA Championships at 174 pounds.
He is among a group of Iowa and Iowa State athletes who faced sanctions as a result of the state's investigation into sports betting in the spring of 2023. Brands never faced criminal charges and was of legal age when he placed the bets, but the NCAA suspended him for gambling. on the Iowa football team.
In December, the NCAA rejected Brands' appeal, and Brands then announced on social media that his college career was over. Three other Hawkeyes wrestlers also faced suspensions from the NCAA amid the sports betting investigation.
But Brands ultimately applied for a hardship waiver and told ESPN in April that he expected it to be granted.
“I'm working on that to maybe cushion the blow,” Brands told ESPN. “It just sucks for the seniors who don't have the opportunity I have to get through another year. Their careers are over.”
Brands said he used DraftKings in fall 2022 to place bets after seeing an ad on social media offering $200 in free bets. He soon became “bored” and stopped placing bets when the wrestling season began. Brands said his bets on Iowa football, totaling $55, to exceed the points total in the games, led to his one-season suspension. He did not bet on any other Iowa sports, although he did bet on professional sports.
“I lost it all because I was betting on the over for Iowa because I'm a fan and I want Iowa to do well,” he said. “It was one of those situations where I was going against the norm because I'm a fan and I wanted them to win.”
Brands is among 26 current and former athletes in Iowa who last month filed a federal lawsuit against the state, alleging that Division of Criminal Investigation investigators violated their constitutional rights by using geolocation software to track gambling activity in Iowa. their cell phones.
“I'm not a bad person because I gambled,” Brands said. “I'm still a guy who can have morals. People understand that what I did wasn't illegal, it wasn't against the law. I was just a kid being a kid, making a mistake.”
