Wednesday, May 1, 2013

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay basketball coach accused of player abuse

In the wake of Mike Rice's firing for his sadistic Rutgers basketball practices, another college hoops coach is under fire for reportedly abusing his players during workout drills.

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Brian Wardle is facing ugly accusations about his practices after two former players came forward with lurid details of Wardle's unethical treatment of themselves during UWGB practices.

And these complaints make Rice's tantrums sound downright tame.

Walk-on Ryan Bross and Brennan Cougill told the Green Bay Press Gazette that Wardle called him homophobic slurs and encouraged him to violate his religious beliefs by having sex with a girl in order to improve his play.

Bross also insisted that Wardle ignored Bross’ requests to step out of a “boot camp” drill when he felt sick. Bross eventually lost control of his bowels while running hills.

“Coach Wardle told me to stop being a p---- and to go into the woods,” Bross told the Press Gazette. “I came back and he was like, ‘Are you all done? Are you OK? Are you done being a p---- now, Ryan?’ Because they thought I was faking it, but I wasn’t. So I kept running the hills. I finished one hill. I came back down, and I told them I was not feeling well again, and (Wardle) made me run another hill again because he told me that I was being a baby.”

Cougill’s mother provided a letter to the paper in which she accused the coach of minimizing her son’s clinical depression as a “distraction.”



The school has launched an investigation that is being led by attorney Joseph Nicks and a couple of UWGB players have refuted Bross' claims.

Wardle, 33, denied the claims in a statement.

“I can assure you the well-being of my players is foremost in my mind at all times,” said Wardle, whose teams are 47-49 in three seasons. “I cannot comment on the specific allegations under federal privacy laws. I can say the version of events (the Press Gazette is) reporting is inaccurate.”

Rutgers fired Rice in April after ESPN aired videotapes of the coach using homophobic slurs and throwing balls at players’ heads, a scandal that also cost AD Tim Pernetti and assistant coach Jimmy Martelli their jobs.

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