two former New Mexico State men’s basketball Players said they were subject to hazing and sexual assault by former teammates.
During a press conference, former players said that their alleged assailants were several members of the group. basketball team Who forced the victims to remain silent.
“There were definitely other players who were attacked the way we were attacked,” Shakiru Odunewu said in an interview with ESPN earlier this week. “But … these other people, I think they manipulated them into believing that if they came out, they were sniffling.”
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A view of “The Pit” at University Arena, home of the University of New Mexico Lobos basketball teams, during a game on November 14, 2014 in Albuquerque, NM (Aaron Sweet / Getty Images)
According to Odunewu and Deuce Benjamin, some assistant coaches were also targeted. He said players who committed alleged acts of harassment pulled down the pants of assistant coaches in public places.
“After [game] “At UTEP, when we lost, they panted one of the assistants,” Benjamin said.
,[Other coaches acted] Like they didn’t see it.”
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Benjamin and Odunewu detailed their experiences publicly for the first time on Wednesday. His lawsuit was filed in April against the university for its alleged mishandling of the attacks.
The lawsuit states that Odunewu reported the abuse to coach Greg Heyer, but the coach failed to discipline the alleged assailants.
Odunewu alerted the New Mexico State Campus Police Department in February. The basketball season was canceled shortly after Odunewu filed the report and Heer was fired,
A police check continues, but as of Friday no charges had been filed against anyone.
Deuce Benjamin, tears up as he speaks about an assault while playing for NMSU during a news conference held by two former NMSU players and their attorneys on May 3, 2023, at New Mexico State University. (Meg Potter/Sun-News/USA TODAY Network)
Odunewu identified Kim Aiken Jr., Doc Bradley and Deshvendra Washington as the alleged attackers, and noted that the three former players targeted “just about everyone”.
According to Odunewu, anyone who attempted to resist or fight back was meted with more severe punishment.
Aiken, Bradley and Washington were not available for comment. Representatives for Here did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Benjamin noted that the act of pulling down a player’s pants was sometimes seen as a part of a team’s pregame ritual. He said that he did not speak out during his freshman year because he believed that the alleged abuse was a normal part of college basketball culture.
Former NMSU basketball player Shakiru Odunewu speaks during a press conference held by two former NMSU players and their attorneys at New Mexico State University, Wednesday, May 3, 2023. (Meg Potter/Sun-News/USA TODAY Network)
His father, William Benjamin, eventually noticed that his son was behaving differently. Duce then had an open conversation with his father.
Deuce Benjamin said, “At first, I just asked him, like, was he experiencing the same things I was going through when he was in college.” “And he wasn’t.”
William Benjamin said his son had been put in an unimaginable position.
“And as a father, I feel I failed him for putting my son in this position,” he said.
Odunewu said that initially he was afraid to speak up.
“I was scared that if I came out… I was going to mess with these people’s careers. But it got to a point where I couldn’t take it anymore.
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Benjamin and Odunewu are in the NCAA transfer portal, and both plan to petition NCAA for one additional year of eligibility.