After having to fire former head coach Tim Beckham amid player mistreatment allegations, Illinois athletic director Mike Thomas has now been fired as well after mistreatment allegations in both football and women’s basketball.
On top of the allegations from the two sports, a former Illinois soccer player sued the university when she claimed she was improperly cleared to play after a concussion.
Here are the details from ESPN:
Illinois has fired athletic director Mike Thomas prior to releasing the final report of its investigation into mistreatment of football and women’s basketball players.
The report on Monday pinpointed former Illinois football coach Tim Beckman, who was fired in late August after allegations of mistreatment by former football player Simon Cvijanovic surfaced in May.
The report found that Beckman “employed tactics that violated standards related to sports medicine protocols and scholarships” by interfering with injured players through “demeaning criticism in public settings” as well as “belittling” those players.
Beckman also was found to have interfered with physician decisions by pressuring trainers, as well as “building a culture that tended to blame players for being injured.”
The report also determined that accusations by seven former women’s basketball players that coach Matt Bollant and an assistant created a racially abusive environment were unfounded. The assistant, Mike Divilbiss, quit after the accusations. The players have sued the school, Bollant and Thomas.
A former women’s soccer player also sued the school, claiming she improperly was cleared to play after a concussion.
“Decisions such as these are always difficult, but we have to focus on the best interests of our student-athletes. I believe this decision allows everyone to move forward,” Wilson said in a prepared statement ahead of a news conference later Monday.
All of this is extremely concerning, and it goes far and above any of the sports being played on the field. When you have players getting improperly cleared by medical staffs to return to competition and coaches pressuring trainers and players you need to completely clean house.
Illinois needs to do a lot of soul searching, makes sure it scrubs its athletic department from head to toe and gets right with all of the people involved in this messy situation.
It is never okay when you have coaches putting winning above the safety of their players.