Women's MWC Basketball

Usually, athletic departments gives a coaching staff some time after a season ends before firing them.

It turns out the administration at Utah State University could not even wait a couple of hours to fire women's basketball coach Kayla Ard, who broke her dismissal at a bizarre press conference following Sunday's loss to Boise State.

"I just coached my last game at Utah State. I spoke with [athletic director Diana Sabau], and they're going in a different direction, and I respect her decision and I hope they get a really good coach in," Ard said.

That Utah State would fire Ard is not much of a surprise. The Aggies went just 5-25 in the 2023-24 season and were 2-16 against conference foes. Ard led the program to a 24-90 overall record in four seasons.

"We appreciate everything Kayla and her staff have contributed to Utah State," Sabau said in a statement. "However, it is in the best interest of the program to make a change."

The timing of the decision will draw understandable criticism. Sabau could have waited until after the press conference to inform her of the program's decision.

Utah State isn't a job that will have half the country clamoring for an interview, so it's an announcement that certainly could have waited until after the team had time to digest the end of its season.

Aggies players likewise found out about Ard's dismissal during the press conference, so that's another factor that was not considered in the timing.

Sabau is in her first stint as an athletics director after previously spending time as the Deputy Commissioner and Chief Sports Officer for the Big Ten Conference.

Utah Tech is investigating women's head coach JD Gustin after both current and former members of the team accused him of "bullying, physical intimidation and retaliation," according to Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Per that report, "11 women alleged Gustin used obscenities while insulting them, humiliated them in front of teammates, gave the silent treatment to some, and threatened to revoke scholarships."

He additionally has been accused of giving "unsolicited back rubs and shoulder massages" and making inappropriate comments about his players' sex lives and bodies, along with angry conduct that included throwing markers and breaking clipboards or flipping over chairs. In one alleged incident, he kicked a chair that then struck one of Utah State's players, and in another he kicked a ball that nearly hit several players.

The university has said it takes the "reported allegations seriously" and is "working decisively to address and resolve these matters."

"Utah Tech University is committed to the safety and well-being of our students, staff and university community," spokesperson Jyl Hall said to Walden in a statement. "Harassment or inappropriate conduct of any kind is unacceptable ... As this is a personnel matter, we cannot comment further."

Parents of the athletes and former athletes in question hired a private investigator, former FBI special agent Greg Rice, to look into the situation. He put together a 55-page report on the allegations, which included testimonials from "more than 20 players and assistant coaches, past and present."

In May, that report was submitted to Utah Tech's Title IX office. In July, however, Utah Tech's director of equity compliance and Title IX coordinator Hazel Sainsbury said in an email that the evidence "would not rise to the level of a policy violation," per Walden.

The report was then submitted to Utah State's human resources department in July. Utah State has hired consulting firm BestDayHR to further look into the allegations.

"It was a lot of trauma and a lot of emotional and mental issues that came from that treatment," former player Brooke Vance told Walden. "And so my hope is to get him out of that job, so that no other freshman who's just excited to go to college and excited for the basketball experience [has] to go through that as well."

"I hope he's fired," former Utah State player Ashley Greenwood added, "and that he never steps foot in coaching women's basketball ever again."

Former San Jose State head athletic trainer and sports medicine director Scott Shaw admitted in court to abusing female student-athletes during his tenure at the university from 2006 to 2020.

According to Kenny Jacoby of USA Today, Shaw pleaded guilty on Tuesday to "two misdemeanor counts of abusing his authority by groping female athletes under the guise of treating their injuries." He had served as associate director for two years before being promoted to head trainer and sports medicine director in 2008.

The 56-year-old faces up to two years in prison, one for each count, and his sentencing hearing has been set for Nov. 14 by Judge Amy Labson Freeman. He will also be required to pay restitution to his victims as well as other potential fines.

"I'm feeling a lot of relief," a former San Jose State swimmer, who was among the first to report Shaw's touching to school officials in 2009, said on Tuesday. "I never thought that I would hear him say he's guilty. I'm really ready to close this chapter and hopefully move forward."

Jacoby noted that 17 members of the San Jose State women's swimming and diving team had reported Shaw's inappropriate touching to school officials in 2009, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the university's human resources department and campus police, thereby allowing his alleged abuse to continue for another decade.

The university reopened its investigation in December 2019 but allowed him to continue working, and one woman said he abused her in early 2020. Criminal charges were filed against Shaw in March 2022 after more victims were found through the university's outreach to the nearly 1,000 female athletes who played at the school while he was employed.

Shaw was originally the subject of a nine-day trial that ran from late July to early August and resulted in a mistrial after two jurors prevented his conviction. Jacoby noted that one juror held out "on all six counts against Shaw and the other on five of the six." Instead of a retrial, prosecutors offered Shaw a deal where he'd plead guilty to two counts in exchange for the other four.

Per Jacoby, "Shaw acknowledged Tuesday that he had no legitimate medical purpose for touching those athletes' sensitive areas and that he did so knowing that he was depriving them of their right to bodily integrity."