South Carolina coach Staley files lawsuit against Missouri AD Sterk

Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk had a lawsuit filed against him Thursday by South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley.
Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk had a lawsuit filed against him Thursday by South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley.

COLUMBIA - South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley filed a lawsuit Thursday against Missouri athletic director Jim Sterk.

Filed in South Carolina's civil court, the court of common pleas, the tort filing alleges "slander/libel" on the part of Sterk for his comments made to KTGR's "The Big Show."

After tensions boiled over in the teams' first meeting this season at Mizzou Arena, Staley was ejected with two technical fouls.

On the Tigers' visit to Columbia, S.C., Missouri players alleged fans had spit on them and used racial slurs as they exited the court after a loss. Gamecocks athletic director Ray Tanner conducted his own investigation and found no wrongdoing, but the same day Sterk came on the radio show and laid the blame at the feet of Staley, who he said promoted the kind of atmosphere and fan energy in the 18,000-seat arena that resulted in the actions.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey met with Sterk and Tanner privately, and while Sterk said he had moved on, Tanner and Staley requested Sterk apologize for his words, an action he never took. That led to Staley filing a complaint against Sterk.

It says, in part, after quoting Sterk's comments on the radio, "Defendant's statement that Coach Staley intentionally promoted a hostile and negative atmosphere designed to incite riotous conduct at a college basketball game in which her team was participating was false, defamatory, reckless and made with actual malice in that Defendant knew his statement was false and still made it with a reckless disregard for the truth."

The complaint goes on to cite national media criticizing Sterk for his words, including ESPN analyst LaChina Robinson and Mechelle Voepel, a Missouri grad, who has covered women's college basketball for nearly three decades and works for espnW. It also states Sterk's comments would hurt Staley's reputation if left unchallenged and Sterk is liable for no more than $75,000.00 in "actual, compensatory and punitive damages."

The SEC announced Thursday afternoon in a release it had reprimanded Sterk and fined him $25,000 for violating bylaw 10.5.1, "Coaches and administrators shall refrain from public criticism of other member institutions, their staff or players."

Sankey said in the release, since a mutual decision does not appear to be forthcoming, he fined Sterk for breaching the bylaw and the SEC's code of ethics, which "[S]ets forth clear expectations for sportsmanship, mutual trust and respect among all participants, coaches and administrators."

The conference has also mandated a review of South Carolina's gameday operations management and visitor security policy. Tanner said the university provided Missouri's players and staff with extra protection when he made his statement about finding no evidence of wrongdoing.

Bylaw 10.5.8 requires member institutions "implement policies that hold their various constituencies responsible for good sportsmanship and set standards for behavior that 'reflect the high standard of honor and dignity that characterize participation in the collegiate setting.'"

As a result, Tiffany Daniels, associate commissioner for Competition and Senior Woman Administrator, and William King, associate commissioner for Legal Affairs and Compliance, will work with Tanner to review South Carolina's gameday policies and make changes if necessary.

"We take seriously the reports from Missouri's student-athletes about inappropriate language and actions directed at them by individual fans, and appreciate South Carolina's willingness to engage in a full review of fan behavior from January 28," Sankey said in the release. "Our goal is to explore additional mechanisms for enhancing each visiting team's experience before, during and after competition. Any lessons learned on ways to improve sportsmanship, hospitality and team security will be shared across the SEC."