USF investigating men’s basketball associate head coach for racially charged comments
A USF men’s basketball staff member has been put on administrative leave after a report surfaced citing multiple incidents of “racially charged comments.” An independent review is underway.
A report put out by former USF and current DraftKings Nation employee Collin Sherwin names associate head coach Tom Herrion as the staff member who is being investigated. Sherwin also reported that head coach Brian Gregory is also being investigated for a failure to discipline his associate or reporting the matter to USF Athletics.
USF is investigating multiple incidents of racially charged comments from men’s basketball associate head coach Tom Herrion. They are also investigating head coach Brian Gregory for failing to discipline said coach, or report the matter to USF Athletics.
— Collin Sherwin (@CollinSherwin) March 18, 2021
A tweet from Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times, however, said Gregory is not being investigated for “any type of wrongdoing or negligence.”
News of the investigation comes on the heels of seven USF basketball players deciding to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal over the last several days. Among the players deciding to transfer are seniors David Collins and Justin Brown, juniors Rashun Williams, Alexis Yetna and Xavier Castañeda, and redshirt sophomore Madut Akec, all of whom are Black. Redshirt freshman Luke Anderson also decided to transfer after one season with the Bulls.
In a statement from the university, Associate Athletic Director Brian Siegrist said the staff member has been put on administrative leave until an independent review is concluded.
“We are aware of troubling concerns that have been reported involving a member of our men’s basketball coaching staff. We take these matters very seriously,” he said.
“We will have no further comment until that process is complete.”
Herrion has been with the program since Gregory arrived at USF in 2017. He was promoted from assistant to associate head coach prior to this past season. Gregory also had Herrion on his staff while he was head coach at Georgia Tech.
Prior to his time with Gregory, Herrion was a head coach at Marshall and the College of Charleston.
Also notable is that after finishing the fourth year of his six-year contract at USF, Gregory reportedly chose not to sign the contract extension that the university offered him prior to the season, according to Sherwin.
USF went 9-13 this past season and made no postseason tournament appearances after getting knocked out in the second round of the AAC tournament against Wichita State.
This is a developing story. Stay with The Oracle for more updates.
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