SHOCKER: REPORTS REVEAL ABUSIVE BEHAVIOR BY WICHITA STATE COACH GREGG MARSHALL
https://www.outkick.com/shocker-report-reveals-abusive-behavior-by-wichita-state-coach-gregg-marshall/by JASON KING
30 minutes agoupdated 13 minutes ago
Allegedly …
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall punched a player in the back of the head.
He wrapped his hands around the neck of his assistant during practice and choked him in front of the entire team.
He fat-shamed a player and also cursed out a student who had parked in his designated space.
“Do you know who the unnatural carnal knowledge I am?” Marshall allegedly said
For nearly a decade now, most people have known exactly who Gregg Marshall is — one of the best coaches in all of college basketball.
He led the ninth-seeded Shockers to the 2013 Final Four and a 35-1 record a year later. Fred VanVleet, Landry Shamet, Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker earned millions in the NBA thanks, in large part, to Marshall. Seemingly every offseason, bigger programs tried to hire Marshall—who averaged 29.7 wins over a seven-year span—away with insane offers of cash. Alabama one year. Missouri the next.
But Wichita State always matched them. The Shockers knew what they had.
Or did they?
A scathing report by Stadium’s Jeff Goodman Thursday evening chronicled a pattern of disturbing behavior by Marshall. During his six-month investigation, Goodman interviewed 26 current or former Wichita State players and 10 assistants who have coached under Marshall.
“He’s a maniac, a bully,” a former Wichita State assistant told Goodman. “He disrespects people, brings up personal stuff, family, girlfriends.”
Among the most damning allegations Stadium uncovered:
* After former player Shaq Morris delivered a hard foul that knocked teammate Zach Brown to the floor during practice in October of 2015, Marshall approached Morris from behind and punched him in the head. “I know you did that on purpose to try to hurt him,” Marshall allegedly yelled.
Hours earlier, the report said, Morris had sat in Marshall’s office and cried because he’d just learned his mother had cancer. Marshall apologized to Morris in front of the team the next day.
* Marshall fat-shamed a player by raising his jersey during a workout and grabbing the player’s belly, poking fun at his girth.
* At a practice during the 2016-17 season, Marshall became irritated with assistant coach Kyle Linstead. A player told Goodman that Marshall “put his hands around Linstead’s throat and tried to choke him.” Linstead is now at Minnesota.
* According to The Athletic, in the spring of 2016, Marshall got into his car to chase down a vehicle that had been parked in his designated spot at the Kohl Center. Marshall allegedly sped ahead of the car, blocked it from leaving the parking lot and then yelled, “Do you know who the unnatural carnal knowledge I am?” at the driver. The driver responded with an expletive, prompting Marshall to exit his vehicle, approach the car and attempt to punch the driver through the window, which was rolled down.
As a result of Stadium’s reporting, Wichita State has hired a St. Louis-based law firm, Tueth Keeney, to investigate Marshall.
A former national college basketball reporter for multiple outlets, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time around Marshall and his program. For years I told people that he was on my (very) short list of favorite coaches I’ve ever covered. Yes, I knew he took a tough-love approach with his players, that he was a bit of a brow-beater. But those are the kind of coaches I like. Our society is way too soft.
I’ve had dinner with Marshall multiple times at recruiting events in Las Vegas and candid, discussions with him about his background and his coaching philosophies. Marshall is wise and worldly. He can be gruff but also incredibly kind. He’s a great father and family man who has involved his son, Kellen, with the team since he was in high school. Marshall has treated me great. I’ve always respected him, and I’m confident that most media members who have covered him regularly in Wichita —where Marshall opens up his postgame locker room to young fans seeking autographs— feel the same way.
Nationally, though, college basketball pundits bristled at Marshall. They’d hear stories about him chewing out a player and then bad-mouth him on the radio. Or they hear him snap at a bone-headed reporter during a press conference and label him a jerk. I always told them that, if they knew the real Gregg Marshall, they wouldn’t say those things.
After reading Goodman’s report, I realize that I may be the one who never knew the real Gregg Marshall. Because if these accusations are true, then … yikes. the school will have to decide whether to keep its coach and his $3.5 million contract and private plane — or let him move on.
It certainly won’t be an easy choice. Marshall has long had the support of prominent Wichita State donors and fans, most notably the Koch family. And while many players ripped Marshall in Goodman’s report, there are plenty who still love him, too.
On Friday morning, Cleanthony Early — the star of the 2013 Final Four squad —tweeted: “‘Normal’ is an illusion. What is normal to the spider is chaos to the fly. Some are built for certain conditions. Others are not!”
When contacted by Outkick for further comment, Early said: “I tweeted my feelings on the subject. GM is my guy.”