College of Holy Cross Student Quits over Abusive Basketball Coach: Lawsuit

By Dareh Gregorian
The New York Daily News
October 16, 2013

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/holy-cross-student-drops-abusive-coach-suit-article-1.1487037

College of Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons is accused of being physcially abusive with players on the women's basketball team.

Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons is alleged to have grabbed the back of Ashley Cooper's neck and yelled in her face.

A Manhattan student says she was "verbally, emotionally and physically" abused while playing for the women's college basketball team in Massachusetts.

In papers filed Tuesday in Manhattan Supreme Court, Ashley Cooper says the abuse by revered College of the Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons was so severe that she walked away from a full scholarship to the school earlier this year just to get away from him.

"Cooper and other players suffered a loss of self-esteem and a loss of their love of the game of basketball" as a result of Gibbons' tirades, her court filings say.

Cooper says she was recruited to play for Holy Cross after a standout career playing for the Rumson-Fairhaven team in high school in New Jersey.

She soon regretted her good fortune after the 2011 season started, the suit says. Gibbons "would act in an outrageous manner in his yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics directed towards the Holy Cross players as well as game referees," the suit says.

He would also "physically hit players," including Cooper, and "shook" them, the suit says.

He also allegedly pulled her by her shirt collar, and would squeeze the back of her neck "while barking instructions in her face at close range."

The suit says Gibbons' behavior is even worse than former Rutger's men's basketball coach Mike Rice, who was canned earlier this year after video of him berating his players surfaced. It seeks unspecified money damages from Gibbons for his "bullying," and from the school for allegedly turning a blind eye to his shenanigans.

“The physical, mental and emotional well-being of our students is our highest priority at Holy Cross,” said Ellen Ryder, a spokesperson for the College of the Holy Cross.

“We just received the lawsuit and are in the process of reviewing it. Ms. Cooper had brought her concern to the College and we investigated at that time. The lawsuit we received today includes a series of new allegations and we will now bring in outside counsel to review them.”