Colorado State basketball team boycotts practice amid Eustachy investigation
Colorado State men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy is likely done coaching the Rams.
The Denver Post reports the school is preparing to fire Eustachy with cause as an on-going investigation by the athletic department determines whether or not the 62-year-old violated the zero-tolerance policy CSU instituted for him back in 2014.
But his players haven’t heard a peep from athletic department officials since Eustachy was placed on paid leave of absence last Saturday. After five days of waiting to hear the status of their coach, the Rams had endured enough.
The team boycotted their practice on Thursday, refusing to take the court until they heard from Athletic Director Joe Parker.
It still took three more hours for a response.
“Our student athletes have expressed concerns to us and we are working with them to address those concerns,” Parker said in a statement to the Denver Post. “Student athlete welfare has always been our top priority. While we are obviously limited in what we can release during an assessment, we will be meeting with our men’s basketball team to update them on the situation.”
If that sounds like a vague and unreasonable response, it’s pretty much par for this course here.
The whole controversy centers on whether or not “Eustachy would single out players during practices and in the locker room at halftime of and after games and repeatedly scream profanities at them” per the Post. The zero-tolerance policy itself stems from a 2013-14 investigation into Eustachy verbally and emotionally abusing his players.
If Eustachy is fired with cause, Colorado State would avoid a $3 million buyout on his contract.
Even still, Eustachy didn’t have the cleanest record before he joined Colorado State. His tenure at Iowa State came to an abrupt end in 2003 after inappropriate photos surfaced of him partying with students at different campuses.
During his tenure with the Rams, Eustachy is 118-66 (52-36 in the Mountain West) but hasn’t taken his team to the NCAA Tournament since making it to the Round of 32 in his first season with the team in 2012-13.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee
