Four-star prospect Kedrick James of La Vega High School in Waco, Texas, the No. 4 tight end in the Class of 2017, according to 247sports.com, announced Thursday via Twitter that he was decommitting from hometown Baylor in the wake of coach Art Briles’ departure.
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In a separate statement issued by the university, Baylor said its board has not finished reviewing the report by Philadelphia law firm Pepper Hamilton “and we anticipate further communication will come after the board completes its deliberations”.
Ken Starr was the school’s president during the assaults and his lack of culpability is shocking and the fact the Board of Regents chose to let him remain on in a chancellor capacity is bewildering. Athletic director Ian McCaw has been sanctioned and placed on probation.
Starr applauded Baylor regents for releasing a report that said administrators discouraged students from reporting or participating in student conduct reviews of sexual assault complaints.
And the school has hired the top NCAA-centric legal firm in the country in case the football program committed infractions while shielding its players from punishment or prosecution.
Baylor defensive coordinator Phil Bennett was named interim coach of the Bears on Friday, the beginning of the program’s attempt to restore some semblance of order amidst a dark controversy that prompted Art Briles’ dismissal.
“This investigation revealed the university’s mishandling of reports in what should have been a supportive, responsive and caring environment for students”.
To be sure, the success the Bears had with Briles on the sideline did immeasurable good for the institution and its various constituencies, including providing the national exposure only a high-powered football team can give.
Briles and the university are also still defendants in a federal civil lawsuit filed by a woman who says the school was casually indifferent to her pleas when she was assaulted in 2012.
“We were horrified by the extent of these acts of sexual violence on our campus”.
Briles and the coaching staff were stunned and devastated by the decision to fire the coach, the sources told Edwards.
You can read the full statement from Baylor’s Board of Regents here.
While critical of Baylor administrators, the most egregious faults noted in the report were with Briles’ football program.
Months of investigation uncovered a number of instances in which Baylor officials and coaches were aware of sexual assault allegations against players but did not pursue disciplinary action.
Football coaches and staff “conducted their own untrained internal inquiries, outside of policy, which improperly discredited complainants and denied them the right to a fair, impartial and informed investigation”.
But the university has been stung by the assault scandal that exploded in 2015 when former football player Sam Ukwuachu was convicted of sexually assaulting a former Baylor soccer player.
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Several of those players took to social media to show support for their once-revered leader, with one writing “Will forever love coach Briles … he changed my life”.
