Month: September 2025

Authorities have taken four people into custody in relation to the shooting of Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard, which occurred late last month (per The Associated Press.).

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Wednesday that Jayden Bodison, Caron Miller, Germany Atkins, and an unidentified juvenile were arrested in the case. Bodison, Miller, and the minor are facing three counts of attempted murder along with a charge of firing into an occupied vehicle; while Atkins was booked for violating probation.

The shooting occurred on August 31st in Havana, Florida, where Pritchard was visiting relatives. Investigators say he was struck in the back of the head by a bullet while sitting inside a car shortly before 10 p.m. The 6-foot-2, 224-pound Pritchard is from Sanford, Florida, and remains in critical but stable condition at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said that Pritchard was “not doing anything wrong” when he was ambushed outside an apartment last month. He added that Pritchard was dropping off family members, an aunt and a child, when he was shot.  Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young said investigators believe Pritchard was not the intended target and that the incident was likely a case of mistaken identity.

Pritchard had not yet taken the field this season for the Seminoles. However, during Florida State’s victory over Texas A&M-Commerce last weekend his teammates wore wristbands with his No. 35 to show their support. In addition, head coach Mike Norvell presented the game ball to Pritchard’s father after the win.

Novell said over the weekend of Pritchard: “The way that he plays the game … he loves it, he absolutely loves it. To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act, you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life, but I do believe God has his hand over Ethan and this football team. To have Earl here today — he’s a wonderful man, and being with him I know it’s so very hard. I know it’s hard for anybody to have to go through, but he told me early in this week, ‘I know where my boy wants to be so I’m going to go stand in his place for him.’”

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The NCAA is widening its investigation into sports wagering among student-athletes, announcing on Thursday that 13 former men’s basketball players from six universities are now facing potential violations.

According to the organization, the players — whose names have not been made public — may be disciplined for breaking gambling rules or for failing to cooperate with investigators. Allegations differ from case to case but include betting on their own teams, wagering against their schools, providing insider information to others, attempting to influence the outcome of games, and refusing to comply with the inquiry.

According to ESPN, the violations include athletes betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties for purposes of betting, knowingly manipulating scoring or game outcomes and/or refusing to participate in the enforcement staff’s investigation. NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a press release that “the rise of sports betting is creating more opportunity for athletes across sports to engage in this unacceptable behavior, and while legalized sports betting is here to stay, regulators and gaming companies can do more to reduce these integrity risks by eliminating prop bets and giving sports leagues a seat at the table when setting policies.”

The athletes under scrutiny previously competed for Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, the University of New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley State. The NCAA emphasized that it does not believe coaches, staff members, or the schools themselves were part of the misconduct. Instead, the investigation is focused solely on the actions of the former players, all of whom are no longer enrolled at their respective institutions.

The NCAA said it will wait until the infractions process is complete before disclosing any of the athletes’ names. It explained that Thursday’s update was issued only because the cases had already been widely reported in the media.

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