Fresno State men’s basketball coach, staff cleared of 14 allegations, including abusive behavior

While Fresno State was investigating claims of racial discrimination made last March by basketball coach Justin Hutson, it also was investigating potential NCAA rules violations and other alleged misconduct by the Bulldogs’ coach and his staff, including abusive and demeaning behavior toward players in practices and games.

None of the allegations was fully substantiated by the law firm Bond, Schoeneck & King, which conducted an investigation into the claims for the university.

But they do point to a turbulent year for the Bulldogs’ players and coaches, and an atmosphere around the program that was duly noted in the investigation. The report cited three ‘elements of consideration’ that played a role in creating pressure on Hutson and his staff, and might account for some of the conduct of staff and players.

There was a deteriorating relationship between Hutson and athletics director Terry Tumey, according to the investigation report. There was pressure to recruit following a successful 23-13 season in 2020-21 that included a championship in the postseason The Basketball Classic, and was exacerbated by the fact the Bulldogs’ coach had just two years remaining on his contract and no extension in sight. There also was what Bond, Schoeneck & King referred to as a lack of communication within and outside the program.

“None of these three elements of consideration are determinative of any wrongdoing, misconduct, or negative behavior; but each of these elements played a role in shaping the atmosphere and environment within the men’s basketball program making it conducive to compromise,” Bond, Schoeneck & King wrote. “It was within that atmosphere and environment that the alleged bad conduct and behavior occurred.”

But some witnesses, administrators and student-athletes reported that in their opinion, the root of the problem was that Hutson was not strong in his planning, structure, communication and vision for the program, according to the report.

THE UNSUBSTANTIATED ALLEGATIONS

The allegations that led to that investigation came from the NCAA, which in February 2023 received an anonymous tip that was forwarded to university president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and Tumey and later to the general counsel of the California State University system.

Similar concerns also were expressed to an athletics administrator by at least two players, and by a parent or guardian of a player to Tumey in a lengthy voicemail.

Hutson and the university parted ways on Thursday, following a season-ending overtime loss to No. 1 seed Utah State in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

The university had plans to move on after last season, but took a step back when Hutson sent Jiménez-Sandoval a letter alleging racial discrimination. The university initiated an investigation into the discrimination claims, which revolve around a lack of resources for a program that ranks ninth among the 10 public schools in the conference in basketball operating expenses.

The report on potential NCAA violations and other misconduct was completed in August. It was obtained later by The Bee through a public records request.

There were 14 allegations addressed in the investigative report, including that the coaching staff would drink alcohol before and after games and that Hutson spoke disrespectfully to the players in practices and games. The Bulldogs’ coach, according to the investigative report, allegedly told the team, “You’re all a bunch of f*ing losers,” and said to specific players, “You are a f*ing idiot” and “You are f*ing stupid.”

Hutson in the report acknowledged that there were times he raised his voice to emphasize a play or strategy. But Hutson and the assistant coaches interviewed said they had never used intentionally demeaning or offensive language toward players. They told the investigator that while they might inadvertently slip in a vulgar or profane word, it is never meant as demeaning or personal.

There were conflicting accounts on what was said to any one specific student-athlete, according to the report. A group of three student-athletes recalled demeaning comments directed towards them by Hutson during practices. Another group of student-athletes said that they did not hear the same words, and recalled more general vulgarity being used by the Bulldogs’ coach.

The person who made the anonymous allegations also said the coaching staff had retaliated against an injured player by telling him that he is not allowed to travel with the team because Hutson said he is faking a concussion, that would withhold medical assistance or treatment from players and that coaches tried to make injured players practice and ridiculed them when they said that they could not.

There was, however, no evidence found to support any of those claims.

“The investigation found no evidence to support that coaches withheld medical assistance for injured student-athletes at any time,” Bond, Schoeneck & King wrote, in the report. “The associate director of athletics for sports medicine and men’s basketball trainer reported that they witnessed no improper conduct by any of the men’s basketball coaching staff members related to communication or distribution of medical assistance to injured student-athletes.

“Further, that although they did have occasional communication issues (coach sometimes not advising her of updates or conversations he had with injured players) with the head men’s basketball coach, there was never instruction from him to withhold medical assistance or direction as to how to treat student-athlete injuries.”

The NCAA’s source of the allegations cited a fear of retaliation in requesting anonymity.

DID BULLDOGS WORK OVERTIME?

Hutson and the staff also were alleged to have violated countable athletically-related activities (CARA) hours when they required the team to participate in a meeting that lasted for more than four hours during a November 2022 trip to North Texas, which would be a violation of NCAA rules. Teams when in season are allowed four hours of competition, practice or skill instruction daily with a total of 20 hours per week, and are required to get at least one day off per week.

That meeting included an intense and lengthy exchange between Hutson and a player who had transferred into the program and was not identified in the report over the definition of playing “soft,” which according to Bond, Schoeneck & King led to lingering hard feelings and questions of player-to-coach loyalty and commitment.

But the players that were interviewed said they had no personal knowledge or suspicion that anyone on the staff consumed alcohol before games, or had any knowledge of the coaching staff’s activities after games, except when traveling.

There was one specific incident described by the NCAA source, a January 2023 game at Boise State. But, according to the report, the only evidence to support the allegation came from the anonymous source, and when asked about that specific game none of the witnesses interviewed had a recollection or impression that any member of the coaching staff had consumed alcohol and was drunk during the game.

Some of the players did say that on occasion they saw coaching staff members at the

hotel bar after road games, but could not identify what they were drinking. Those same players indicated they noticed no behavioral changes in Hutson or any of the coaches because of what they were consuming after games.

The report concluded: “The allegations made against the men’s basketball program appear to have little support from those closest to the program. There were multiple injury incidents during the year that impacted the momentum of the program. Those injuries and their impact on the team chemistry were exacerbated by the early season confrontation between the transfer student-athlete and the head coach. Further, some of the returning players felt disrespected when their playing time was reduced because of the transfer student-athletes. Some of the transfer student-athletes who had experience at larger and better-funded program’s belittled and criticized some of the amenities (food and lodging) that the FSU program had to their teammates.

“Coaching staff members felt pressure to win immediately because of non-renewal of the head coach’s contract. Each of these elements contributed to internal pressures to and among team members, coaches and administrative staff. As a result, disgruntled student-athletes spoke up and complained, family members of student-athletes spoke up and complained, and as a result allegations were made about the program.

“The substance of the allegations were somewhat general and the support for them was slight. From the outside, the program appears to be similar and consistent with those in its conference and other peer institutions. There is no neglect for NCAA rules among coaches, student-athletes or administrators. For the most part, the student-athletes liked their coaches. Everyone agreed that the year was filled with negative setbacks that are simply a part of a collegiate athletics program.”