The gambling suspension for Notre Dame’s men’s swim team may be just a small taste of what may lie ahead for the team amid in-depth scrutiny of the program’s culture.

On August 15, the men’s swimming team was suspended for at least a year after an independent law firm found that most team members had been gambling throughout the season, including betting too high or too low and betting on “how many women would cry after their races.”

But the gambling ban is probably only the tip of the iceberg.

A source told SwimSwam that the team is also being investigated by Notre Dame’s Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), whose job is to ensure compliance with the school’s policies on discrimination, harassment and retaliation, as well as legal requirements.

The investigation is based on allegations of harassment and group texts containing homophobic slurs and zoophilia, the source said. Individual athletes are being investigated for their role in the alleged behavior.

The school’s statement announcing the suspension in mid-August specifically stated that it would apply for “at least one school year,” with the possibility of an extension.

Last season, Boston College’s swimming and diving program was suspended for an academic year after an investigation confirmed allegations of hazing practices and recurring behavioral problems, consistent with what Notre Dame alluded to when it announced the suspension of the men’s swim team for gambling.

“The external review confirmed and expanded on our initial concerns about a deeply ingrained team culture that disregards Notre Dame’s standards for student-athletes, including our expectation that they treat each other with dignity and respect,” the statement said.

BC’s suspension last year came in the wake of a series of hazing incidents within the sport in the late 2010s that saw Brown, Dartmouth, East Carolina and Bucknell, among others, face consequences for hazing.

In 2015, Western Kentucky State suspended its swimming and diving programs for five years due to hazing practices. In April of this year, efforts began to revive the programs after teams failed to return after the suspension ended.

If the current OIE investigation does indeed find that the Notre Dame men’s team was involved in hazing (and other misconduct), it stands to reason that the suspension could be extended beyond the current one-year ban. This latest development only adds to the unanswered questions about the situation.