Suspended Binghamton coach alleges racial bias

Mar 27, 2010 - 8:06 PM VESTAL, N.Y.(AP) -- The suspended coach of the Binghamton University men's basketball team has filled a racial discrimination complaint against the school.

Kevin Broadus was put on paid leave in October after his starting point guard was arrested on drug charges and five teammates were dismissed for other violations.

It was the third player arrest in his three years as coach.

Broadus filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights on March 8. In it, he angrily claimed in a handwritten note peppered with exclamation marks that he was singled out for scrutiny because he is black.

"I want answers," he said. "No one else in the department has been treated in this manner. But the most important component is I am the only person of color who is a head coach."

Other coaches in the State University of New York system had had players arrested for serious crimes, but kept their jobs, he said.

A spokesman for the state university system declined to comment.

An outside review of Binghamton's athletic department released in February concluded that the school had sacrificed academic standards to bolster its sports programs. It also found that Broadus had circumvented the university's admissions standards to get a player enrolled and lobbied for a player's grade to be changed.

That inquiry was led by retired state chief judge Judith Kaye, who is now serving as the independent counsel investigating whether Gov. David Paterson broke ethics rules or had improper contact with a woman who filed a domestic violence complaint against one of his aides.

Broadus assailed Kaye's audit of his staff, writing that it, "ended up being an investigation mostly into myself, other minority coaches and other minority professors who were perceived to be my friends solely because of our color and ethnic status."

Broadus said he wants his job back. He also complained that the school had taken away his state-owned car and the credit card he had used to pay for team-related travel.