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Two former New Mexico State men’s basketball players have filed a lawsuit over the hazing allegations that led to the cancelation of the team’s season earlier this year.
In the lawsuit, which was filed in New Mexico state court on Wednesday, freshman guard Deuce Benjamin and redshirt freshman forward Shakiru Odunewu publicly step forward as victims in the hazing scandal. They claim three of their former teammates – Kim Aiken Jr., Doctor Bradley and DeShawndre Washington – harassed and degraded them in multiple incidents over the past year.
Benjamin’s father, William, is the third plaintiff in the lawsuit, which also alleges negligence by former head coach Greg Heiar, former assistant Dominique Taylor and the New Mexico State Board of Regents.
“Student athletes, like others on college campuses, have the right to be free from harmful and offensive contact by others,” the lawsuit states.
“When the behavior continues for months, it cannot be viewed as an initiation rite; instead, it is harassment and abuse. And when coaches and universities do not take adequate action to prevent or stop such behavior, they have failed their student athletes and are complicit in the abuse.”
New Mexico State said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation, but “we want to assure everyone that this issue is being taken seriously.”
“As we announced earlier this year, the university is working with Greenberg Traurig to look into these allegations,” the school said in the statement. “Their work is underway and running in parallel to our own internal investigation into this matter.”
Aiken, Bradley and Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Attempts to reach Taylor and Heiar, who was fired in March, were unsuccessful.
The hazing incidents began during team training sessions and practices last summer, according to the lawsuit, which was obtained by the Las Cruces Sun-News.
The lawsuit alleges that during one incident, the three former players who are listed as defendants confronted Odunewu while he was showering and told him to “do squats as they slapped his buttocks.” During another incident on the team bus in November, they pinned Odunewu on the ground, slapped him and squeezed his scrotum, according to the lawsuit.
Deuce Benjamin, whose father starred on the court for the Aggies in the late 80s and early 90s, claims he was subjected to similar treatment, usually before practice or training sessions. Benjamin alleges the three older players would often pull his shorts down, expose and slap his buttocks and “grab his scrotum and twist it.”
“The attacks happened frequently, and he lived in fear of the next one,” the lawsuit alleges. “While he never consented, he felt powerless to stop it.”
After his father noticed something amiss with his son, Benjamin told him about the incidents and subsequently reported them to university police, according to the lawsuit.
The ensuing police report prompted New Mexico State to abruptly shut down its men’s basketball program and place its coaching staff on administrative leave. Heiar was fired for cause a few days later, as the university pledged to investigate.
The hazing allegations came just a few months after another Aggies player, Mike Peake, exchanged gunfire with a University of New Mexico student on Nov. 19. Peake sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg, while a UNM student named Brandon Travis was killed.
The incident drew further scrutiny after authorities saw on surveillance video that some of Peake’s teammates had arrived on the scene before police, and Peake had put his gun and a tablet in the trunk of their car. The weapon and tablet later wound up in the hands of assistant basketball coaches, who turned them over to police.
The two scandals have resulted in an overhaul of the Aggies’ men’s basketball program, and an almost complete exodus of players.
Benjamin, the 2021 Gatorade New Mexico Boys Player of the Year, announced Tuesday that he had entered the transfer portal. He wrote on social media that, as a local kid, it had been his dream to play for the Aggies but “due to the actions of others (which I will not go into here) that dream changed into a nightmare.” Odunewu entered the portal last month.
As of Wednesday evening, the online roster for the Aggies’ 2023-24 season listed new head coach Jason Hooten and two of his assistants but no players.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
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