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, among other things, that players frequently brought weapons 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, but the other two did so anonymously. They filed a lawsuit 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, although Moccia received a contract extension and a raise.
According to the report, weapons were a “regular presence” in the locker room and around the team last season, but weapons are not allowed on college campuses or on school trips. Feit said in the lawsuit that he was close to leaving the program and that he had guns pointed at him three times from car windows as he walked across campus.
Feit said he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder while attending school. He has since signed to play professionally with a team in Israel, despite returning to the United States in the middle of the war.
“Kyle Feit became difficult to focus on basketball and felt like he was losing his love for the sport,” the lawsuit states. “Going to the gym has always been a safe and positive place and that is no longer the case. His game suffered as a result, 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 abused and bullied by teammates last season, which allegedly happened throughout the year. They said coaches, including head coach Greg Heiar, knew about the abuse but did “little or nothing” about it.
Former Aggies player Mike Peake was also involved in a fatal shooting on the University of New Mexico campus last season. He was reportedly “lured” to campus the night before their game there by UNM students who then reportedly assaulted him. Peake then allegedly shot a New Mexico student in self-defense and later met up with teammates and stashed his gun and a tablet in their car before the team left town early.
Heiar was fired and the season was canceled.
A Title IX investigation last week found that the players who allegedly bullied and sexually abused others did so to ensure their teammates remained “humble.” According to The Associated Press, the investigation found that players demanded that others pull down their pants and expose their genitals, which were sometimes grabbed. Feit and the other two claimed this happened to them too.
New Mexico State opened its season on Monday night against No. 16 Kentucky. The Aggies hired Jason Hooten to replace Heiar last offseason.
