FORT COLLINS – Colorado State men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy was placed on administrative leave Saturday, athletic director Joe Parker announced.
Associate head coach Steve Barnes will lead the team in the interim, including Saturday night’s game against Nevada.
“I have asked head coach Larry Eustachy to temporarily step away from the men’s basketball program, as he has been placed on administrative leave while we conclude our climate assessment,” Parked said in a prepared statement. “We are diligently working through this assessment as expeditiously as possible, understanding the importance of a thorough and fair process. No conclusions have been made.”
An internal investigation led by CSU Parker, deputy athletic director Steve Cottingham and compliance director Shalini Shanker discovered Eustachy’s behavior and interactions with players violated standards he agreed to in 2014, during his second season with the Rams.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the CSU administrators interviewed players and coaches to perform what Parker called a “climate assessment” of the program. Sources close to the team told The Denver Post that Eustachy would repeatedly single out players by screaming profanities at them during practice and at halftime during games, and that he picked more heavily on players who were not in the starting rotation.
Despite CSU’s ongoing investigation, Eustachy coached the Rams’ 91-86 double-overtime loss to Wyoming on Wednesday and led practices Thursday and Friday.
Eustachy, according to team sources who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from the coach, told the team in a meeting last Tuesday that he was informed by CSU president Tony Frank his job was safe. Frank’s office denied such communication, stating “Frank would not—and did not—make statements to anyone regarding the climate assessment of the men’s basketball program led by … Parker. To do so would compromise the integrity of Parker’s assessment, in which President Frank has complete confidence.”
Eustachy, 62, declined to answer questions following Wednesday’s game regarding the investigation. When asked by the Post whether he believed he would remain CSU’s coach through the end of the season, Eustachy said he could not comment.
CSU guard Anthony Bonner said “I love my coach,” and forward Deion James said, “We have (Eustachy’s) back, 100 percent.”
Former Rams guard Gian Clavell, the 2016-17 Mountain West Player of the Year, told the Post on Wednesday that CSU firing Eustachy would be a “huge mistake” and that any player who spoke out against Eustachy in the investigation was “soft” and not mature enough to take ownership of the team’s poor season that has it sitting at 10-14 overall and 3-8 in Mountain West play.
This is the second internal probe of Eustachy’s CSU program in the past five seasons. In the spring of 2014, former CSU athletic director Jack Graham, who hired Eustachy, led an investigation of the men’s basketball program and Eustachy’s behavior. Eustachy admitted in the investigation that he “crossed the line” and later said he “went way over the line” when it came to creating a culture of fear and intimidation. Graham recommended Eustachy’s contract be terminated with cause, but CSU president Tony Frank overruled Graham. Eustachy was instead required to complete anger management courses and was given a zero-tolerance policy in regard to his language and behavior toward players and informed that any violation of this could result in termination with cause.
In his almost six full seasons at CSU, Eustachy is 121-74, which ties him with Stew Morrill for the second-most victories in program history behind Jim Williams. He’s also set the program record for wins in a season twice (26 in 2012-13; 27 in 2014-15). But despite his winning percentage, Eustachy’s teams have only once reached the NCAA Tournament (2012-13), made two NIT berths and lack a regular season or postseason Mountain West championship.
Eustachy’s contract at CSU, which has been extended by one year three times, runs through the 2020-2021 season and pays him $985,012 with salary increases of 2 percent every year. His buyout if CSU terminated him without cause would be just north of $3 million.
This is a developing story and will be updated.