By KTSW Sports Staff
@KTSWSports
Former Texas State guard Jaylen Shead took to Twitter this evening revealing the racially insensitive remarks made by current head coach Danny Kaspar that led to Shead’s surprise transfer in the summer of 2019.
Shead played as the starting point guard for the Bobcats in 2018 before transferring to Washington State following his junior year. Shead declined a scholarship and graduate assistant position on Kaspar’s coaching staff before his eventual departure.
Within the attached screenshots posted on social media, Shead reflected on his time playing under Kaspar.
Shead’s former teammate Alex Peacock, replied in the assembly of notes posted on Twitter.
“I stand with my boy Jaylen and everything he says 100 percent,” Peacock said.
Another former Texas State basketball player, who preferred to stay anonymous, said he also witnessed the racially insensitive comments mentioned in Shead’s post.
“Yes, many many things Jaylen has said in his tweet like calling a player ‘chicken thief’ or telling them to ‘run like you’re running from the cops [is true],” the first anonymous player said.
“Do I think coach Kaspar is an all-out racist? No. But [Kaspar] does have some racial tendencies and I think in this day and age, with everything going on, we can’t have things like that.”
In his response, anonymous player one also said Kaspar had an issue with players having long hair and alerting players to “not look like Lil Wayne.”
“Rules were put in place for certain dress that was directed towards the black players like we can’t wear durags, no earrings stuff,” anonymous player one said.
However, another former Bobcat Deris Duncan, disagrees with the severity of Shead’s comments and said, “Kaspar is not a racist.”
“He invited players who had no place to go for Thanksgiving over to his house to spend it with his family every year and his wife would make us our favorite desserts for each of our birthdays during the season,” Duncan said. “He invited me and my wife this past Thanksgiving as well as others. A racist would not allow a whole team of black men over to his house.”
Duncan also commented on Shead’s tweets about the way Kaspar made racially insensitive comments but argued they were taken out of context based on the practice setting.
“His words are being twisted and used to get attention. When Kaspar would make comments we would laugh, Jaylen being one of the main ones.”
In wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, Texas State President Denise Trauth sent an email to students, faculty and staff regarding the universal uproar of social injustice against the black community.
“It is not debatable at Texas State,” Trauth said. “Black lives matter in our classrooms, on our campuses, and in the streets during tumultuous protests. I am committed to the struggle for their dignity, humanity, rights, voice and safety.” The university has yet to make a statement regarding the alleged incident involving Danny Kaspar at the time of this article’s publication.
Be sure to follow @KTSWSports on Twitter for further coverage.
Featured image courtesy of Texas State Athletics.
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