College Basketball Coach Suing Rival After Being Put In Handcuffs On The Court
The lawyers are getting involved.
Tuskegee head basketball coach Benjy Taylor was put in handcuffs minutes after his team lost to rival Morehouse earlier this year, and now, Taylor is fighting back in the form of a lawsuit against the school and two of its campus police officers.
The bizarre situation unfolded at Morehouse College when Taylor and a man wearing a police uniform were seen speaking on the court. All seemed to be completely tame between the two before the officer suddenly put Taylor in handcuffs and escorted the veteran coach off the floor.
HBCU Gameday reported that Morehouse football players came onto the floor after the game had ended. Tuskegee Athletic Director Reginald Ruffin told the outlet that Taylor was simply trying to have conference-security protocols enforced as football players on the floor could potentially lead to a less-than-ideal situation, which Taylor alluded to in a statement.
Tuskegee Athletic Director Reginald Ruffin told HBCU Gameday that the officer claimed Taylor was "very aggressive" and "the aggressor," which the AD said was not accurate.
Shortly after the incident took place and made the rounds on social media, National civil rights attorney Harry Daniels announced that Taylor had hired him to pursue a possible civil lawsuit.
Now, here we are.
Along with Daniels, Taylor is being represented by civil rights attorneys John Burris, Gerald Griggs, and Gregory Reynald Williams.
Taylor's attorneys wrote in a news release announcing the intention to officially file a lawsuit against Morehouse College and campus police officers "R. Clark and M. Roberson," who were named by Taylor's legal team as defendants in the impending civil case, according to USA Today.
An investigation by the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference into the situation determined Morehouse "did not satisfy the required security standards for a host institution, specifically as it relates to crowd control and ensuring the safe entry and exit of visiting teams and game participants."
Tuskegee University issued a statement pledging its full support to Taylor immediately after the incident took place. The statement, which was published on the university's website, was co-signed by Dr. Mark A. Brown, the school's President and CEO, as well as Reginald Ruffin, the Tuskegee athletic director.
Taylor has been the head coach at Tuskegee since 2019 after first entering the college basketball coaching ranks in 1989 as a graduate assistant at Richmond University.