New Mexico State’s basketball program is in more legal trouble.
Two former Aggies players and a student manager filed a lawsuit Monday against the university and others alleging that, among other things, players frequently brought guns into the locker room where they sexually assaulted players, according to The Associated Press.
Kyle Feit is one of the former players who filed the lawsuit, though the other two did so anonymously. They filed the suit against the university, former coaches and players and athletic director Mario Moccia. The former coaches and players named in the lawsuit were either fired or left the school after last season, though Moccia received a contract extension and a raise.
According to the suit, guns were “a regular presence” in the locker room and around the team last season — though guns are not allowed on the university’s campus or on school-related trips. Feit said in the lawsuit that he was on the verge of quitting the program and that he had guns pointed at him from inside car windows three times while walking on campus.
Feit said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while at the school. He has since signed to play professionally with a team in Israel, though he’s back in the United States amid the war in the country.
"It became difficult for Kyle Feit to focus on basketball and he felt like he was losing his love for the sport," the lawsuit said. "Going to the gym had always been a safe and positive place, and it was no longer. His game suffered, as did his well-being."
New Mexico State agreed to pay a total of $8 million to two other former players who said they were sexually assaulted and hazed by teammates last season, something they alleged happened throughout the year. They said that coaches, including then-head coach Greg Heiar, knew of the abuse but did “little, if anything” to address it.
Former Aggies player Mike Peake was involved in a deadly shooting at the University of New Mexico’s campus last season, too. He was allegedly “lured” to campus the night before their game there by UNM students, who then reportedly ambushed him. Peake then allegedly shot and killed a New Mexico student in self defense, and later met up with teammates and put his gun and a tablet in their car before the team left town early.
Heiar was fired, and the season was cut short.
A Title IX investigation last week found that the players who were allegedly hazing and sexually assaulting others were doing so as a way to make sure teammates stayed “humble.” The investigation, per The Associated Press, found that players demanded others pull down their pants and expose their genitals, which were sometimes grabbed. Feit and the two others alleged this happened to them, too.
New Mexico State opened its season on Monday night against No. 16 Kentucky. The Aggies hired Jason Hooten this past offseason to replace Heiar.
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