Brandeis University men's basketball coach Brian Meehan routinely belittled African-American players and treated them in a discriminatory manner, according to case documents. The school announced Thursday it was terminating Meehan's employment as a result of the accusations.
In the official statement, Brandeis president Ronald D. Liebowitz said several students filed "serious discrimination complaints" about the coach, including a new accusation last week that resulted in his termination.
Deadspin, which spoke to three current and former Brandeis players, provides much more detail about Meehan's alleged actions. Apparently, the players first complained to the school in May 2017, which didn't complete its investigation until last November. The results were not shared with the students, and Meehan coached every game this season.
Meehan, who was hired in 2003, was inducted into Brandeis' Hall of Fame in 2010. He led the Judges to four DIII NCAA tournament during his first seven seasons. But the program has floundered in recent years. Since 2014, the team has gone a combined 33-66.
The anonymous players recount a litany of alleged racist barbs that Meehan routinely threw at black players. In two instances this season, he allegedly told a first-year player on the team from Africa he would "ship him back" to the continent if he mouthed off. Later, Meehan reportedly said he didn't want to sit next to the player, because he would contract Ebola.
The first documented instance of Meehan's alleged behavior was recorded in 2015. At practice, he approached three black players nursing injuries on the sidelines and asked if they would reenact the "see no evil," "hear no evil," "speak no evil" monkeys.
"I remember a certain situation where I was hurt, there was another black guy that was hurt and then another one, and we were all put to the side to sit down," one of the players told Deadspin. "You know, we were just watching practice. Then he was like, 'Hey, so-and-so, cover your eyes. Hey you, so-and-so, cover your mouth. And you, so-and-so, cover your ears.' If you look at the emojis, it's like three monkey emojis. And we didn't understand it at first, but then I looked at my phone. I didn't do it, because I didn't know what he was talking about, and then I looked at my phone and was like, 'What the heck?'"
Another grievance against Meehan was his treatment of injured players. He regularly iced them out, prohibiting them from participating in activities with their teammates. That is, unless you were on his children. Meehan allegedly gave his two sons preferential treatment, allowing one of them to play despite sitting out practices –– a courtesy that wasn't extended to the rest of the team.
But the theme of the report is Meehan's alleged rampant racism. On Martin Luther King Day 2017, per the human resources report, Meehan told a black player wearing a white-black reversible practice jersey that is must be a "dream come true" for him to wear white.
This disparaging treatment seemingly resulted in African-American players remaining with the team for much shorter stints than their white counterparts. Since 2011, the Judges have had 20 black players on their roster. Only three of them lasted the full four years, compared to eight of the 24 white players.
Despite the damning evidence against Meehan, his poor record on the court recently likely did him in. Even in Division III, winning seems to cure all.
