OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska women’s basketball assistant coach Chuck Love has denied having a sexual relationship with former Cornhuskers player Ashley Scoggin, but admitted in a court document that he had met her late at night in a Lincoln parking lot.
Scoggin filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court in February, describing how Love allegedly took a particular interest in her and claiming the relationship became sexual and caused Scoggin to fear retaliation if she refused to engage in it.
The lawsuit named Love, the university’s board of trustees, head women’s basketball coach Amy Williams and former athletic director Trev Alberts as defendants. Scoggin is seeking a jury trial in Lincoln and unspecified damages for the alleged violation of his civil rights.
Williams and Alberts, now Texas A&M’s athletic director, are accused of failing to establish rules, training or policies prohibiting staff members from having sexual relations with athletes.
Scoggin played two seasons for the Huskers. She was fired from the team the same day as Love’s suspension with pay in February 2022. Love resigned three months later. Scoggin, a native of Dallas, Oregon, transferred to UNLV.
Love’s response, filed Friday, disputed most of the allegations made by Scoggin, who was kicked off the team days after her teammates discovered her, fully clothed, in Love’s room during a road trip .
Love denied Scoggin’s claims that he sought sex with students, that he discussed inappropriate topics with her and that he invited her out for drinks.
Love admitted that he met Scoggin in a parking lot, saying in court documents that she was “emotionally distraught and urgently insisted that she needed to see him immediately, so they agreed to meeting in a parking lot, a place where Scoggin felt she could speak.” without fear of being heard by others, especially other players on the team.
Love denied Scoggin’s allegation of a second late-night meeting in a Costco parking lot, where she said he kissed her and asked, “Have you ever done anything with a trainer before?”
Scoggin was discovered in Love’s hotel room during a trip to Penn State in February 2022. Teammates engaged in a ruse to get Love’s room key. When they entered, they found Scoggin on the bed, fully dressed. Love said Scoggin was in his room at his request to discuss a personal issue.
The regents, Williams and Alberts, said in their joint response to the civil lawsuit that they did not have “sufficient information and belief to admit or deny the allegations” of a sexual relationship between Scoggin and Love.
They said Scoggin admitted during a meeting with administrators that she had violated university rules and policies. The nature of these violations was not specified in the court document. Williams and executive athletic director Keith Zimmer then told her she was no longer with the team. Alberts supported the decision at another meeting attended by Scoggin’s parents. Scoggin, during that meeting, said there was nothing sexual between her and Love.
“Defendants admit that Williams told Plaintiff and her parents that violation of university rules and policies, as well as dishonesty and distrust between Plaintiff and her teammates, warranted his removal as an active member of the team,” the document states.
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