Wichita State'sbasketball coach Gregg Marshall is under investigation after it was alleged he directed racial slurs at players and choked an assistant coach.
As Watch Stadium reports, the allegations against Marshall include instances of physical and verbal abuse, with players often on the receiving end of his alleged behavior. ESPN via the Athletic confirmed that school officials have been interviewing both current and former players, with an investigation into Marshall ongoing. He has been head coach at the school since 2007.
Wichita State forward Shaq Morris explained to Watch Stadium that he was punched by Marshall twice during a 2015 practice. "I love my teammates, the city and Wichita State," added Morris, "But if I could go back to that day when he punched me, I would have left."
Additionally, three eyewitnesses say that the coach allegedly choked Shockers assistant coach Kyle Lindsted during the 2016-17 season. In total over 30 former and current members of the basketball program at Wichita State have accused Marshall of routinely engaging in abusive behavior, which ranges from physical violence to ethnic and racial slurs directed at players.
Other described instances of his behavior include an allegation that Marshall told junior forward Isaiah Poor Bear-Chandler, a Native American player, "to get back on his horse" during practice for the 2018-19 season. At one point, he allegedly made what were described as "Indian howling noises."
He also allegedly lifted a former player's t-shirt during a 2015-16 practice, taunting them for gaining weight since leaving the team. "He doesn’t know how to treat people," said a former player. "I felt like I wasn’t playing for him, but that I was playing against him. He fucked me up mentally." Another player said Marshall called Morris "a motherfucker" during the incident in which he punched him, while one said that he deliberately goaded and tried to hurt Morris.
The tight-knit team of players apparently were all frustrated with Marshall at one point or another, and many of them "wanted to beat Marshall up." One player added, "It's crazy how us hating him made us closer. We all hated him."
