Male Holy Cross Women's Basketball Coach Accused of Emotional, Physical and Verbal Abuse by Former Player Who Gave up Scholarship to Flee School

By Ryan Gorman
Daily Mail
October 17, 2013

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2462962/Male-Holy-Cross-womens-basketball-coach-accused-emotional-physical-verbal-abuse.html

Coach Bill Gibbons has 533 wins over his 28 seasons as coach, he ranks 24th among active coaches

NYU junior Ashley Cooper, a former scholarship player at Holy Cross, has accused the coach of hitting and screaming at players

Ms Cooper says the abuse was so bad that opponents often consoled Holy Cross athletes

She also accuses the school of covering up the abusive coach's conduct

The NYU junior is suing Holy Cross for tuition and expenses incurred from losing her scholarship, as well as unspecified damages

A women’s basketball player who left the College of the Holy Cross is suing the school over allegations of emotional, physical and verbal abuse from the team’s head coach.

Ashley Cooper, 20, played two seasons under long time head coach Bill Gibbons, 66, before giving up a full scholarship and leaving after complaints of him striking and shouting at players went unanswered by school administrators.

Filed in Manhattan because Ms Cooper now attends New York University, the lawsuit against the Worcester, MA., based school seeks compensation for tuition and expenses at NYU, as well as other unspecified damages, according to ABC News.

She had a full ride: Holy Cross' Ashley Cooper (left) says she fled the school to escape the abuse from coach Gibbons documented in the lawsuit

Ms Cooper told ABC News she no longer plays collegiate basketball after fleeing the 28-year, 533-win coach’s abuse.

‘I don't want this to happen to anyone else ever again,’ Ms Cooper told ABC News. ‘I want to stop it. I'm doing this for other people. I'm taking a stand for others, for every freshman that walks through the door.’

The Colts Neck, NJ native told ABC of the coach screaming in her face and other abuse.

The lawsuit, according to ABC, says Mr Gibbons’ ‘actions constitute the worst type of bullying because not only is defendant Gibbons her coach and supervisor, but also he is someone she is supposed to respect.’

The coach ‘violently yanked and pulled Cooper by her shirt collar and strongly squeezed the back of her neck causing pain while barking instructions in her face at close range,’ the suit claims, according to the New York Post.

Acting in an ‘outrageous manner in his yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics,’ the coach once struck Ms Cooper so hard he left a hand print that didn’t immediately go away, court papers cited by ABC claim.

As a result of behavior exceeding ‘the misconduct involving former Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice,’ leading to ‘fear of physical pain,’ according to the lawsuit, she had no choice but to leave the school.

Accused abuser:: Holy Cross head coach Bill Gibbons faces allegations of physical, emotional and verbal abuse in the suit

Players on opposing teams would often console Holy Cross players after a belittling at the hands of the abusive coach, Ms Cooper told ABC.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie famously said Coach Rice’s conduct was ‘completely unacceptable’ because it violated ‘the trust those parents put in Rutgers University,’ the Post noted.

Mr Rice lost his coaching job as a result of the behavior.

Mr Gibbons also ‘struck another female player on the back’ last season, resulting in a complaint from the girl’s father to the school that was ignored, Ms Cooper told ABC.

A message left at Mr Gibbons home by MailOnline seeking comment was not returned. When reached by ABC News, the coach hung up.

Picturesque: Holy Cross College. in Worcester, MA., has a beautiful campus

Holy Cross emailed the following statement to MailOnline.

‘The physical, mental and emotional well-being of our students is our highest priority at 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.’

Athletic Director Richard Regan has been critical of a coach’s conduct in the past as a member of an NCAA committee that chided the University of New Mexico’s men’s soccer coach and goalkeeper.

‘We believe the championship is discredited by the unsportsmanlike actions of these coaches and expect all coaches to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the championship,’ he said at the time, according to ABC.

A message left for Mr Regan by MailOnline seeking comment was not returned.