By KTSW Sports Staff
@KTSWSports
The Texas State men’s basketball coach Danny Kaspar is under fire after former Bobcat Jaylen Shead tweeted last night that Kaspar allegedly made racially insensitive remarks to the team throughout his time in San Marcos.
Other former players responded last night in support of Shead and Kaspar. For a more in-depth look at all of what transpired last night, read last night’s article here.
Texas State athletic director Larry Teis announced there will be an investigation regarding Kaspar nearly 24 hours after the alleged comments surfaced. Here is Teis’ statement from earlier today:
As of last night, Deris Duncan was the only former Bobcat to speak in support of Kaspar. Alex Peacock responded to Duncan in an article released by the San Marcos Daily Record earlier today.
“I think that was very disingenuous,” Peacock said in response to Duncan. “In that moment, yeah, we kind of smirk… When you’re in an uncomfortable situation, what are most going to do? They’re going to laugh it off, shrug it off.”
Peacock disagrees with Duncan’s accusation of Shead posting his experiences simply for recognition.
“I don’t like that he thought that this was an attention grab because neither me nor Jaylen need any attention from anybody,” Peacock said.
Peacock was not the only former player to speak up on these allegations. Former Texas State basketball players Tyler Blount and Tre Nottingham both took to twitter earlier today to show support on Shead’s claims.
While Peacock, Blount and Nottingham all spoke in support of Shead’s post in regard to the alleged comments, many of Kaspar’s Stephen F. Austin (SFA) players have come to his defense.
Former Lumberjack basketball player Cameron James played under Kaspar from 2006-2009. James believes anyone categorizing his former coach of having a “racist bone in his body” is a “grave misjudgement of his character.”
“He said things to everyone that he knew would push us and motivate us,” James said. “He held us accountable and pushed us to be better daily. If you put a microphone in a D1 practice, you’re going to hear some words you don’t like. But none of these statements were ever racist.”
Eddie Williams, an SFA player from 2007-2011, reiterated and agreed with his teammate.
“He made sure myself and other black student-athletes graduated and often went above and beyond to make sure we succeeded,” Williams said. “He is a tough coach to play for but through that exterior, he is one of the kindest human beings I’ve ever met. I owe a lot of my success in life to him.”
Chaz Dykes, a member of the Stephen F. Austin basketball team in 2005-2007, says as a member of Kaspar’s squad, he himself never experienced any “racial acts” with his coach.
“I don’t know too many coaches that would care for their players after they are done playing for them,” Dykes said. “During that hard time in my life, this man made sure I finished school when I was definitely thinking about giving up on it and I don’t know if someone who was racist would make sure you’re successful in any kind of way shape or form.”
KTSW Sports has obtained quotes from 13 of Kaspar’s players throughout his time at SFA. Each full testimonial given by the players in regard to Coach Kaspar’s treatment of his team can be found here.
Be sure to follow @KTSWSports on Twitter for further coverage on this developing story.
Header image by Texas State Athletics.
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