New Mexico State is halting its men’s basketball program amid an investigation into alleged hazing between players, CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander confirms. The Aggies, who have just five regular-season games remaining, already canceled a Feb. 11 game against Cal Baptist following the allegations.
The school previously announced it was suspending team operations and placing the coaching staff on paid administrative leave “until further notice.” The decision came at the behest of New Mexico State chancellor Dan Arvizu after being made aware of the hazing allegations.
“We took this action after receiving reports of alleged hazing incidents within our men’s basketball team,” said Arvizu. “Our players and coaches were in California at the time preparing to play Cal Baptist. To ensure we fully understood this situation, we canceled that game, called the team back to Las Cruces and placed the coaching staff on paid administrative leave. Once our student-athletes arrived on campus, they were met and interviewed by university personnel who are specially trained to conduct investigations into these kinds of matters.”
According to a police report obtained by KTSM-TV, three players are facing a trio of offenses, including one count of false imprisonment, one count of harassment and two counts of criminal sexual contact. The victim, a member of the basketball team, claims that on Feb. 6, 2023, three members of the team whose names were redacted in the police report “held him down with him facing down, removed his clothing exposing his buttocks and began to ‘slap his ass.’ He also went on to state that they also touched his scrotum.”
Incidents of abuse have allegedly been taking place since summer of 2022. The victim then went to campus police on Feb. 10 to file a report for possible assault, though no criminal charges have been field.
In its initial statement, NMSU said only that the allegations…
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