Two former New Mexico State basketball players who alleged they were sexually assaulted by teammates say assistant coaches for the team were also assaulted.
Deuce Benjamin and Shakiru Odunewu also revealed ESPN certain assistants had their pants pulled down in public by the alleged assault perpetrators.
‘After the [game] at UTEP, when we lost, they gasped one of the assistants,” said Benjamin. One assistant coach had his pants pulled down while sleeping on the bus, he said, and another was targeted but screamed enough to discourage the attackers. ‘[Other coaches acted] like they didn’t see,” Benjamin said to the outlet.
Odunewu also alleged that his attackers had deliberately manipulated teammates into keeping quiet about the bizarre sequence of events initially referred to by the program as “hazing.”
“There were certainly other players who were attacked the way we were attacked,” he said.
Shakiru Odunewu (L) and Deuce Benjamin (R) spoke publicly about the lawsuit on Wednesday
“But… these other guys, I feel like they manipulated them into believing that if they came out, they were betraying.”
The pair filed a lawsuit against the school in April and spoke publicly for the first time on the edge of the New Mexico state campus on Wednesday. The defendants were NMSU’s Board of Regents, two former coaching staff members, and three former players. It seeks ‘amounts to reasonably compensate’ the plaintiffs for their damages, and for punitive damages against the defendants. A count in the lawsuit alleges assault, battery and false imprisonment.
Benjamin previously made the allegations public when he announced his intention to move away from the school in Las Cruces. He says three teammates forced him and the other accuser to pull their pants down below their ankles before sexually assaulting the two.
“I used to respect people,” Benjamin told the AP in an interview that came a few hours after an emotional press conference to discuss the lawsuit. ‘I’ve lost all that now. Pretty much just a lot of anger. I can’t trust people, and I’ve just come to despise people, really.’
Chancellor Dan Arvizu canceled the season in February after Benjamin presented his allegations to the school police. Arvizu took the allegations as coming from hazing. The civil lawsuit, filed in district court in Las Cruces, challenged that description, saying, “when the behavior goes too far and crosses the line into involuntary touching, it is not mere hazing; it’s battery and assault.”
The lawsuit says that when Odunewu first approached an assistant coach about the incidents, the coach laughed and said, “What do you want me to do about it?” It says the player discussed the incidents three times with another coach, who “said he was looking into it and would issue some suspensions,” but no action was taken.
One of the many attacks on Benjamin took place in front of a group of women in a hotel room where the players were staying for a road race, according to the series. It says that one of the players ‘exposed Deuce’s backside and grabbed (him) forcefully, causing great pain and humiliation. All of this happened in front of the women, which only degraded Deuce.”
Benjamin eventually told his father, a former New Mexico state star and current Las Cruces high school coach, about the attacks. His father, William Benjamin, tried to reach coaches and the school’s athletic director, Mario Moccia, but neither returned his calls, the lawsuit said. That led to the player taking his story to campus police, who opened an investigation.
Both claim they were sexually assaulted by former teammates – who also targeted coaches
The New Mexico State men’s basketball team abruptly called off the rest of the season
According to the lawsuit, the school’s new coach, Jason Hooten, told Benjamin, who was New Mexico’s Gatorade high school player of the year before signing with the Aggies, to try and find a new place to play.
Odunewu said his Muslim faith made him hesitant to come forward with his case.
“Even though they have done something unforgivable, they are still people with goals, aspirations and dreams,” he told the AP on Wednesday. “I didn’t want to come out and ruin their future. But it just got to the point where I just couldn’t take it anymore.’
It wasn’t until about three months after Odunewu was laughed at by the coach that Benjamin, at his father’s urging, went to the campus police with details of another episode where he said he was conspired and assaulted. In between, the relationship grew between the son and his father, former NMSU star William Benjamin, who is also a plaintiff in the lawsuit.
“I was smoking a lot, just trying to deal with the pain and start forgetting,” the younger Benjamin said. Trying to find an escape route. It got to the point where I didn’t even want to live with my dads anymore,” who remains a well-known figure in the community as coach of the Las Cruces High Hoops team.
The police report led to the school chancellor canceling the season and firing coach Greg Heiar over what were then termed “hazing” allegations.
New Mexico State spokesman Justin Bannister issued a statement saying the school “continues to view this issue as extremely important … The type of behavior described in those allegations has no place on our campus,” he added.
Benjamin was NM’s Gatorade High School Player of the Year before signing with the Aggies
NMSU head coach Greg Heiar (pictured here as an LSU assistant) was fired
Bannister said in April that the state of New Mexico was working with a law firm to investigate the allegations. NMSU head coach Greg Heiar was fired on February 14 as a result of the scandal.
Both Benjamin and Odunewu are unsure of what to do next. They both think basketball will be part of that plan, in part because it offers some kind of escape from the reality of where that sport has left them after their difficult stay in the state of New Mexico. They take classes online and Wednesday is as close to campus as they have been in months.
“I have days when I don’t want to talk to anyone,” Benjamin said. And days when I’m mad at myself. I’m just a really isolated person now.
“I feel like the only way to get better is if I play somewhere and just be where I want to be. I haven’t been in the right mind space in I don’t know how long. I am not content.’