New Mexico State cancels basketball season as alleged sexual assault details emerge

Feb. 12—The New Mexico State University men's basketball season is over.

The announcement came as the NMSU Police Department released a redacted version of the initial police report filed last week with allegations of multiple Aggies basketball players taking part in repeated, ongoing locker room hazing this season that included potential sexual assault of at least one teammate.

Specifically, the report lists as alleged offenses false imprisonment, criminal sexual contact and harassment and is said to have begun in August and was ongoing throughout the season, including on road trips.

The names of the victim and the three alleged perpetrators of the hazing — all teammates — had their names redacted from the report released on Sunday. The hazing, the report indicates, took place in front of multiple teammates "and that no one intervened."

According to the report, the teammate reporting the incident stated that the most recent occurrence of hazing happened Feb. 6 in the team's locker room at the Pan American Center. The reporting player said, per the police document, that three teammates took his clothes off, held him face down "exposing his buttocks and began to 'slap his ass.' He also went on to state that they also touched his scrotum."

Police say the reporting player said he "he had no choice but to let this happen because it's a '3 on 1' type situation."

The report states the alleged victim indicated he "does not want to pursue criminal charges at this time" when he spoke with campus police.

Nobody has been charged with a crime.

Coaches on administrative leave

The entire men's basketball coaching staff, including first-year head coach Greg Heiar, has been put on paid administrative leave and the school's administration on Saturday began interviewing players and staff about the allegations.

NMSU on Friday night announced the men's basketball program had been shut down until further notice — bringing the team home from a road trip in California on Saturday, when they were supposed to have been playing a Western Athletic Conference game against Cal Baptist. It was a move the school's Board of Regents immediately issued a statement in support when it was briefed on the matter.

On Sunday, NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu released the following statement about shutting down the rest of the season:

"Today I am announcing my decision to suspend operations for our men's basketball program for the remainder of the season. This action is clearly needed, especially after receiving additional facts and reviewing investigation reports related to the hazing allegations involving student-athletes on the team. Hazing has no place on our campus, and those found responsible will be held accountable for their actions. We must uphold the safety of our students and the integrity of our university. It's time for this program to reset. I have spoken with Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Brian Thornton earlier today and informed him of this decision."

The NMSU basketball team will finish 9-15 overall and 2-10 in the WAC, one season after winning the league title and winning an NCAA Tournament game against Connecticut, which led to former head coach Chris Jans being hired away by Mississippi State.

Players comment

A third player in 24 hours announced he will be leaving the team. There is no indication any of the three were involved in the allegations.

Guard Kyle Feit, a 6-foot-4 guard from Boca Raton, Fla., who played in 21 games this season, on Sunday afternoon posted his intent to leave the program on social media. He wrote, in part: "My family instilled values in me that haven't wavered, and at this time, I'm looking to find a place that aligns with them." He then thanks fans, teammates and coaches.

pic.twitter.com/ejOHzYkRjP— Kyle Feit (@KyleFeit) February 12, 2023

Saturday, two of his teammates — guards Shahar Lazar and walk-on Kent Olewiler, neither of whom had played in a game this season — announced they would be transferring out of the program.

Lazar, a former member of the Israeli military, stated, "Having served several years in the Israeli military, I was raised on the values of excellence, discipline, respect, reliability and accountability. However, in retrospect, I don't believe the program that I originally committed to currently aligns with my beliefs and core values."

Hazing, shooting investigations separate

None of the hazing allegations, and the resulting investigations being conducted by NMSU administration and by the NMSU Police Department, are related to the ongoing independent investigation into the program's handling of the aftermath of the November shooting in Albuquerque that involved currently suspended NMSU player Mike Peake.

Peake, who was shot in the leg, shot and killed a UNM student around 3 a.m. Nov. 19 on the UNM campus. Police say the UNM student plotted with three other students to attack Peake after the Aggie player left the team hotel in the early morning hours to meet with a 17-year-old girl the morning of their rivalry game against New Mexico.

UNM student Brandon Travis had been beaten up in a fight that involved Peake, at least one other Aggie teammate and a UTEP basketball player during an October UNM-NMSU football game in Las Cruces. No players were suspended for that fight.

The shooting led to the cancellation of the annual two-game in-state rivalry series with the Lobos — one game played each season in Albuquerque and one in Las Cruces.

Peake, who brought a gun on the November trip to Albuquerque unbeknownst to his coaches, used it in self defense, police say, when attacked on the UNM campus that morning, but had also sneaked out of his team hotel to be there. Three teammates who also had sneaked out were seen on video arriving at the scene after the shootings, taking a gun and another item from Peake and leaving the scene before police arrived.

Questions about accountability of the players involved — both in the October fight and November shooting — as well as whether the coaching staff was being fully cooperative with the investigation all came under heavy scrutiny in the weeks after the shooting and ultimately led to the university hiring an outside firm to investigate.

One of the three players who was in the car seen at the scene of the November shooting — Anthony Roy — is on probation through 2025 after pleading guilty to a charge of drug possession with the intent to distribute when he was in Idaho last year.

His probation was first reported by the Las Cruces Sun-News only after Roy was identified as being at the scene of the November shooting and it was noticed he had subsequently missed numerous road games with the team.

NMSU Athletic Director Mario Moccia said he and the administration were aware of Roy's probation and charges prior to his transferring to NMSU this season.

NMSU regents to meet Tuesday

NMSU is not commenting on Heiar's future, but the university on Saturday announced the Board of Regents is meeting Tuesday and "is also scheduled to meet in closed session at 8 a.m. Tuesday on another matter" that "will be held to discuss limited personnel matters."

It is unclear if there is any connection between the two matters.

Heiar's five-year contract is set to run through April 30, 2027, and has an annual base salary of $300,000 with numerous incentive/bonus clauses that including such things as hitting ticket revenue bench marks, NCAA Tournament appearances, winning and coach of the year awards. It appears the only perk Heiar is certain to have achieved this season is a rivalry bonus clause of $2,500 for any win against rivals UNM or UTEP. NMSU's two games vs. UNM were canceled, but the Aggies went 1-1 against the Miners, including a Nov. 30 win.

Should NMSU fire Heiar without cause, he would be owed the remainder of his contract's base salary.

Should the university fire him with cause, he would be owed nothing. To do so, it would have to prove he violated one of 13 clauses, including violating school or NCAA rules, committing a crime, advising anyone to not "respond accurately and fully within a reasonable time" to any investigations into the program and other matters.

Heiar would have to be informed of the decision in writing.