Ex-UConn Basketball Coach Kevin Ollie Threatens School With Lawsuit After Release Of Transcripts From NCAA Probe

Former University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie is threatening to sue the college, alleging defamation and invasion of privacy following UConn’s disclosure of transcripts pertaining to an NCAA inquiry.

Ex-basketball coach kevin ollie threatens to sue UConn

A letter shared by ESPN reveals Ollie and his lawyers are demanding that the university retract the transcripts of the probe, which were recently leaked to the press. These documents reportedly included a secondhand allegation by a man who previously worked as an associate head coach for the Huskies that Ollie paid the mother of a former recruit $30,000 in return for a promise that the woman’s son would commit to the program.

News outlets cited the Freedom of Information Act to ask for the NCAA transcripts.

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Ollie’s attorneys allege the mother of the aforementioned recruit denied ever having been paid in an interview with the NCAA. UConn officially fired Ollie for “just cause” on June 19. The coach claims to be owed $10 million as part of his contract. The NCAA’s probe into the Huskies men’s basketball program during Ollie’s tenure remains ongoing.

“The defamatory allegation that Coach Ollie paid $30,000 to the mother of a student athlete published widely by the University of Connecticut constitutes not only defamation but also gives rise to the tort of false light invasion of privacy,” Ollie’s lawyers wrote in a letter.

Ollie had been the Huskies’ head coach since 2012, two years after he first joined them as an assistant. He led the team to an NCAA championship in 2014 and signed a new five-year deal with the program shortly after that.

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This is not the first time in recent years that the parent of a college basketball player or recruit has been probed for allegedly receiving payments or other services in exchange for their child’s commitment to a school. In February, the FBI began investigating Michigan State’s Miles Bridges and his mother following claims that they received special benefits from an associate of a former NBA agent and his sports agency. Expense reports revealed the connection.

Dozens of other NCAA basketball programs and sponsorship companies like Adidas have been investigated over the last year for illegal recruitment tactics that include bribery.