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Albion men's basketball players want coach fired after alleged use of racial slurs

Tony Paul
The Detroit News

Albion College head men's basketball coach Jody May has served a multi-game suspension after players allege he used a racial slur multiple times during a practice last month.

Ten players declined to suit up for Saturday's home game against Trine University, in large part because of inaction by the administration. Players want to continue the season without May as their head coach, according to notes kept by one upperclassmen player — notes that are endorsed by at least 16 players on the varsity roster, including those who played Saturday, multiple players told The News on Saturday. Two players confirmed the details and allegations in the notes, but did so anonymously for fear of retribution.

Albion College head men's basketball coach Jody May is serving a multi-game suspension after players allege he used a racial slur multiple times during a practice last month.

The college is standing by May, who is undergoing sensitivity training.

"Albion College recently addressed an internal issue involving the men's basketball team that stemmed from a practice session where our coach disciplined a student-athlete for using a racial epithet. When players questioned the coach about this matter after practice, the coach repeated what the student had said when he explained the discipline taken," said Mary Ann Sabo, spokesperson for Albion College. "The coach has since apologized to the team for this regrettable lapse in judgment. He has sat out several games and is undergoing sensitivity training."

The alleged incident occurred during a practice Dec. 28, when May kicked a player out of practice for jawing with another player. When a third player approached May and asked why only the one player had been kicked out of practice, May said, "He needed to be taught a lesson," according to notes kept by a player.

May said the player he kicked out of practice, who is Black, had used a racial slur during a recent practice. According to notes kept by a player, May, who is White, repeated that slur four times during that practice, in the context of quoting the player who was kicked out of practice. The majority of Albion's roster is Black.

Players expected May to address the comments after practice, and at a later shootaround, but he didn't say anything, players said. He brought up the comments at a dinner later that night, a player said.

After dinner, May asked one player to stick around, to discuss the situation.

"I let him know about how I felt about him and his actions," the player wrote in his notes, detailing the situation. "I told him he should know better and that he should never say the word. I went on to say that he had no knowledge of how any of his players felt about what he said or that he was even at fault at the time. He had no awareness that he was in the wrong. It was almost as if he didn't know that he had made a mistake. He was asking me for a solution to his actions and what he should do. I was shocked that a man in his position didn't know what to do after saying the most derogatory, disrespectful and belittling word."

The player wrote that he told May he should apologize to the team, which May did after the dinner, though the player said May started the apology by pointing out how the player he kicked out of practice was in the wrong.

Later in the evening of Dec. 28, Albion team members decided to request assistant coach Nate Frisbie take over as interim head coach, the two players said. Frisbie coached the team for two games that weekend, against The College of Wooster and Carnegie Mellon University.

Jody May

After the two games, players decided they wanted Frisbie as their coach for the rest of the season. But on the bus ride back from Wooster, Ohio, on Friday, Dec. 30, Frisbie told the team May would return to practice Sunday, Jan. 1. Players considered the decision "a slap in the face," a player wrote. "Our voices were not heard or considered in this decision," the player wrote in keeping notes on the situation. "He was suspended for less days than the amount of times that he said the (racial slur)."

"As an African-American, it is demeaning to hear the (slur) come from a white male in a position of power," the player wrote. "For most of the team, it was the first time they had heard a white person use the word in general. It was devastating to hear it come from our head coach who we work hard for everyday to gain his respect and approval. We are emotionally impacted by this event as student athletes and as human beings.

"We are embarrassed to play for a man who displays this type of behavior and embarrassed to play for a school that would allow this type of behavior from a man in Coach May’s position."

This past Wednesday, hours before the team's road game at Calvin, the Albion players participated in a two-hour meeting with Albion interim president Joseph Calvaruso and Leroy Wright, dean of students, players said. Calvaruso and Wright, according to players in the meeting, asked the team to let May address them after the meeting, which May did. He apologized again, after which the meeting was adjourned.

Frisbie also coached the team for Wednesday's game at Calvin, and Saturday's game against Trine, though May was on the bench for Saturday's game, when the school's gymnasium was renamed after Mike Turner, the program's winningest basketball coach.

Players say they have been told May will resume full coaching duties Monday. Albion didn't confirm this Saturday.

"Albion College has mishandled this situation from the very start," the player wrote in his notes. "They took advantage of the incident occurring over break and having nobody here on campus. They have been trying to hide what happened and sweep it under the rug. There has not been an official statement released by the college about what happened and it has been nine days since the event at the time of this writing. The college tried to guilt-trip us into giving up our cause and just accepting what they want.

"Our feelings and requests have not been taken seriously by the college during this process and we feel that we have not been heard.

"We feel that the only option we have left to be heard is to not participate in the game on Saturday."

Said Sabo: "We respect the decisions of those student-athletes who have decided to sit out (Saturday's) game. We hope to continue the healing process through ongoing dialogue with these student-athletes."

Albion College's athletic website lists 25 players on the men's basketball team's roster. Seven played in Saturday's 92-61 loss to Trine. The team's top three scorers didn't play; one player played 20 minutes in seeing his first game action all season; another player saw 28 minutes, after playing just nine all season.

The News requested comment from Calvaruso and interim athletic director Andy Lawrence, but neither returned a message. Sabo responded on their behalf. May also didn't return a message from The News seeking comment.

May has been on staff at Albion since 1997, and has been head coach since 2008. A native of Elida, Ohio, he played on the Division III national-championship team at Ohio Northern. Albion, a Division III school that plays in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and is located about 20 miles west of Jackson, is 3-10 on the season.

tpaul@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @tonypaul1984