GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The College of Florida has cleared males’s basketball coach Todd Golden following a four-month Title IX investigation into allegations of sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and stalking.
The varsity launched a press release Monday saying no proof was discovered and ended its investigation. It comes amid No. 5 Florida’s greatest season in a decade, with the Gators having received 18 of their first 20 video games.
“The College of Florida takes these issues significantly and works intentionally to make sure that due course of is upheld for everybody,” college spokesman Steve Orlando stated in a press release. “After an intensive investigation that included dozens of interviews over the previous months, the College of Florida has discovered no proof that Todd Golden violated Title IX. The Title IX workplace has closed its investigation.”
Golden beforehand sidestepped probabilities to disclaim the allegations “out of the respect to the method” and threatened authorized motion, presumably towards his publicly unnamed accusers. He additionally just lately ripped proceedings which might be presupposed to be confidential.
“I’m simply annoyed and upset {that a} Title IX mechanism that’s created to guard each side throughout a state of affairs like this — that confidentiality and privateness continues to be abused,” Golden stated earlier this month after assistant coach Taurean Inexperienced was accused of sexual assault in one other Title IX case.
The varsity’s College Athletic Affiliation supported Golden all through the investigation and backed his confidentiality remark following the case’s dismissal.
“The UAA acknowledges the completion of the evaluation,” the UAA stated in a press release. “We take these issues significantly and perceive the necessity for the method to be performed with strict confidentiality and discretion.
“All through this course of, Coach Golden has demonstrated super focus and professionalism, and we commend him for that. Because the Gators transfer ahead, we reaffirm our dedication to selling a championship expertise with integrity.”
The criticism towards Golden accused him of sending pictures and movies of his genitalia, making undesirable sexual advances on Instagram and requesting sexual favors. The Impartial Florida Alligator first reported the allegations in early November.
Title IX is designed to guard college students from discrimination, together with sexual harassment. Florida started outsourcing its Title IX investigations in 2023 to Grand River Options, a personal agency based mostly in California.
The 39-year-old Golden signed a two-year contract extension final March that included a $1 million increase and introduced his yearly wage to $4 million. The deal runs via the 2029-30 season. He’s 58-31 in three seasons.
His contract prohibits “romantic, amorous and/or sexual relationships between any coach or different worker of the Affiliation and any scholar athlete or different particular person topic to the supervision, management and/or authority of such coach or different worker.”
It additionally says the college can take disciplinary motion if the coach acts in a fashion “that has an ‘antagonistic impact’ or causes an ‘antagonistic reflection,’ on the repute, mission and/or pursuits” of the athletic division or the college.
The case towards Inexperienced, in the meantime, remains to be ongoing. Inexperienced is accused of kissing an athletic division worker and making an attempt to place his hand down her pants in March 2024, based on a criticism reviewed by ESPN.
The lady stated she didn’t report the alleged incident on the time partially due to Inexperienced’s standing. Inexperienced, who received NCAA championships as a participant with the Gators in 2006 and 2007, joined the basketball workers in 2022 following an expert basketball profession.
The lady instructed ESPN she got here ahead after Title IX investigators engaged on Golden’s case requested to interview her final fall about Golden’s interactions with feminine athletes. She stated that inquiry made her notice there might be issues a couple of sample of conduct throughout the program.