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Former Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers speaks publicly on gambling investigation for first time

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Former Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers speaks publicly on gambling investigation for first time

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© Copyright 2024, Des Moines Register and Tribune Co.

COUNCIL BLUFFS – Iowa Western Community College quarterback Hunter Dekkers walked into a meeting room at the football team’s offices Thursday and grabbed a seat at a table.

“I couldn’t be happier right now,” Dekkers said in an exclusive interview with the Des Moines Register. “I told myself, wherever I was going to get the chance to play again, I was just going to be grateful. So I couldn’t be more grateful to be on this team.”

Dekkers is trying to make the most of what could be his last chance. Two seasons ago as a redshirt sophomore, the former West Sioux High School star was Iowa State’s QB, starting all 12 games and heralded as a potential multiyear superstar. But last summer, he became known instead as the central figure in a state sports gambling investigation. He was banned by the NCAA for betting on Cyclone games and spent last season watching games alone in his basement and growing depressed.

Now, he’s moved on to junior college powerhouse program Iowa Western in an attempt to salvage his college career. (Junior colleges are not governed by the NCAA.)

“It’s going to follow me,” Dekkers said. “It’s part of my story, if I’m being honest.”

He’s come to accept that.

“I’m not worried about it at all,” he said. “It’s something I know I’m going to have to talk about through my whole career, however long that is. I’m going to have to talk about it the rest of my life.”

For the first time since last summer’s stunning developments, Dekkers talked in-depth about the gambling probe that cost him his Division I college career, the struggles he went through following the investigation and how he’s still hoping to play in the NFL.

Dekkers answered the Des Moines Register’s questions about all of that and more.

“He’s not shying away from anything,” said Iowa Western coach Scott Strohmeier.

‘I was just a stupid kid that made a stupid decision.’

There were always high hopes for Dekkers at Iowa State. The left-handed-throwing quarterback was a four-star recruit and high school legend out of West Sioux, where he won two state titles, compiled a 34-5 record and became the first Iowa high school player to record back-to-back 4,000 all-purpose-yard seasons.

When he got to Iowa State, Dekkers was the backup to future NFL star Brock Purdy, who became a starter as a freshman. Dekkers patiently waited for his shot, redshirting the 2020 and 2021 seasons and appearing in eight games over the two years.

It was during his redshirt freshman year in 2021 that Dekkers admits he made a fateful mistake, saying he placed a $15 bet on an Iowa State football game.

“If I’m being honest, it’s just kids being kids,” Dekkers said. “We were just hanging out with friends, just talking about a bunch of stuff and just doing it together. It wasn’t like we were doing it in a malicious way of trying to win or trying to do that type of stuff. We were literally just doing it as a video game.

“I was just a stupid kid that made a stupid decision.”

The eventual criminal complaint in summer 2023, charging him with tampering with records and underage gambling, accused him of placing 26 wagers on Iowa State sporting events. In his guilty plea just over a month later, Dekkers admitted to using his mother’s name to wager more than $2,700 on more than 250 bets, including a wager on the Iowa State football team while he was on the team. The tampering with records charge, related to using his mother’s name, was dropped, and he pleaded guilty only to underage gambling.

Dabbling in sports betting didn’t have an immediate impact on Dekkers, who during the 2021 season completed 20-of-36 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns and even got significant playing time against in-state rival Iowa when Purdy was benched.

In 2022, after Purdy departed for the NFL, Dekkers took the starting spot and threw for 3,044 yards and 19 touchdowns.

The hope was that Dekkers, a run-pass threat, was just scratching the surface of his potential. With hard work, he could become a more accurate passer and guide the Cyclones back to prominence in the Big 12.

But any hope of that came to an end on Aug. 1, 2023, when news broke that Dekkers and other athletes from Iowa State and Iowa faced charges in the state’s sports gambling investigation.

The news quickly became a national story. Dekkers was the headliner, as a starting quarterback at a Power 5 conference school and standing accused of betting on his own team and other Iowa State sports.

Dekkers, who won All-Big 12 academic honors as a freshman and sophomore, moved home the next day and began taking classes online. He left the football team and said he became depressed as he watched the 2023 season unfold without him.

“I was in a dark place for a long time,” Dekkers said. “Mentally, physically, I was in a dark place emotionally. It was a rough time for me.”

Dekkers says he went weeks without leaving his parents’ basement. It took the urging of friends and family to get him out of the house once in a while. Dekkers had grown up watching and playing football, and it was the first time in his memory that he wasn’t involved in the sport. Watching games was difficult, especially Iowa State games.

When he would tune in, he’d watch replays on YouTube, alone in the basement. He left the game on mute so he wouldn’t have to hear broadcasters explain why he and other former members of the team weren’t playing because of the gambling probe.

“There was the longest of time where I sat there and thought about, ‘I should be there. I should be there. That should be me,'” Dekkers said.

Iowa State overcame the loss of key players and enjoyed a successful season, finishing with a winning record and a trip to the Liberty Bowl. Quarterback Rocco Becht had an outstanding season and was named a freshman All-American.

Eventually, Dekkers started moving on.

He got out of the house. He went up to his high school, ran on the track and lifted in the weight room. Dekkers threw passes when he could. He worked on the family’s farm, doing daily chores. He even helped with the high school basketball team. His football future was in doubt, but Dekkers kept training on his own in case an opportunity arose.

“I told myself I know that I am talented enough and good enough to get an opportunity somewhere. Wherever that is, whatever opportunity that was, I was going to take it,” Dekkers said.

Dekkers gets a second shot at Iowa Western

Strohmeier was in his car one March day when his phone buzzed. It was Dekkers.

The former Iowa State quarterback had been ruled ineligible by the NCAA. Dekkers had filed an appeal and had hoped that the NCAA would show some leniency and give him another shot to play. That was denied.

Dekkers’ college career at the Division I level was over. But Strohmeier had built Iowa Western into a perennial powerhouse in no small part thanks to second chances.

Across Iowa, from the Iowa State and Iowa coaches to fans in the stands to lawyers representing the athletes in court, many people questioned the fairness and legality of the state’s sports gambling investigation and the harshness of the NCAA’s penalties at a time when online sports gambling has become legal and widespread in most states, including Iowa. As with Dekkers, 19 of 25 cases ended with guilty pleas to underage gambling. More serious charges were dismissed.

Strohmeier was among those who didn’t think it was fair that Dekkers had football taken away from him.

“I felt he deserved another opportunity to play,” Strohmeier said.

He talked to the school president about providing Dekkers that opportunity. The president in turn reached out to Iowa Western’s board of directors, which gave Strohmeier permission to bring Dekkers on board. Dekkers visited Council Bluffs on a Thursday and was a member of the team by Sunday. He’s now the starting quarterback for the reigning national champions.

During the ups and downs of a tumultuous year, Dekkers said he leaned on his faith.

“The Lord put me in this position for a reason,” he said. “If I couldn’t handle it, he probably wouldn’t put me in this position. I feel like he’s put me through this and tested me, and I’ve become a better person.”

Dekkers also thinks he’s become a better player since he last took the field.

“I just feel like I’ve matured as a player since then,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of time to reflect this past year on what I could have done better when I was playing, when I wasn’t playing, what I could have done as a leader, what I could have done off the field. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the positive and the negative and obviously I’ve done a lot of reflecting on the negative and just adjusting and figuring out what I could do to … become a better person and player.”

Once again, there are high hopes for Dekkers, who has talent around him and big expectations for the season. NFL scouts, as many as seven, have been to Council Bluffs to see him. Other have inquired about Dekkers, Strohmeier said. They’re intrigued by the quarterback’s arm strength, athleticism and experience.

“He understands the game extremely well,” Strohmeier said.

But Dekkers, who pleaded guilty to underage gambling, will have to produce quickly at Iowa Western to get a shot at the next level. This is his last season of eligibility. He has just one year in Council Bluffs to show what he’s capable of, then he plans to enter next year’s NFL Draft.

Dekkers said he’s not taking his second chance for granted.

“I’ve really just told myself if I get another opportunity, I would take one day at a time and be grateful for every day and just work as hard as I could with every day I’ve gotten,” he said. “And to be honest, I feel like I’ve done that … and I’ve really not looked to see what’s next. I really just try to live in the moment.”

Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

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