Four NKU players alleged emotional abuse. After a review, their coach has been cleared.

After four former Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball players accused their head coach of emotional abuse, an external review has cleared Camryn Whitaker, a former University of Kentucky assistant coach.

According to results from Cincinnati law firm Dressman Benzinger LaVella, investigators could not “substantiate emotional abuse by Whitaker to any player” nor see any basis for any Title IX sex (or gender) discrimination concerns. The university retained the firm in early April and released the results Thursday.

The allegations were made in March initially by senior Taryn Taugher, who had just completed her final season with the Norse women’s basketball team a few weeks prior. In an entry on an online blog Odyssey Online, she said Whitaker would make negative remarks about the player’s family, personality, work ethic and physique.

Three of Taugher’s former teammates subsequently confirmed Taugher’s accounts or told their own stories of abuse. The released the information in Facebook posts or interviews.

But the review released Thursday from DBL Law said “most players and all staff were supportive of Whitaker and did not witness or experience emotional abuse. Some current and former players vehemently denied any abuse and expressed full support for Whitaker.”

A few days after Taugher wrote her article on the blog, eight current NKU players wrote their own in support of Whitaker. The players said they love and support their staff and reported their experiences with the team have been positive.

DBL Law interviewed 33 people in its review, including current and former players, assistant coaches to Whitaker, administrators, athletic trainers, team managers and other NKY staff involved with the program. The review took around 50 hours to complete. In addition to the interviews, DBL reviewed tweets, Facebook posts, performance evaluations of Whitaker, player survey results, text messages and other items related to the program.

Whitaker’s alleged comments could not be substantiated; occurred but were not emotional abuse; or were taken out of context, DBL said.

Each coach, staff member and administrator interviewed denied Whitaker was verbally or emotionally abusive to players, the review said. The majority of Whitaker’s comments to players were motivational in nature and not personal, according to the review.

“After all interviews, we have concluded that there were no comments that were abusive by Whitaker or any other person in the WBB program,” the law firm stated. “The comments made were appropriate and used in a motivational sense in an effort to get the best out of players.”

DBL found there were some personal issues and dissension with or among team members, but could not attribute those to abuse from Whitaker. The law firm said the problems were related to “dynamics among some of the players, lack of playing time, upset parents and losing seasons.”

Taugher told Cincinnti.com she’s disappointed the law firm did not find emotional abuse.

“I’m scared for my teammates and that if Coach Whitaker is told ‘this is OK’ that it’s going to escalate,” she said.

In a statement provided by the university, Whitaker said she cares deeply about the women in the program.

“As we work to build a program everyone can be proud of and support, this experience gives us the opportunity to reflect on the growth and development as coaches and players in our program,” she stated.

Athletic Director Ken Bothof stated the university is confident in Whitaker’s leadership of the program and is excited for the future of Norse women’s basketball.

Whitaker was a part of Matthew Mitchell’s staff at the University of Kentucky for one year but resigned in 2016 during a mass exodus of players and coaches within the program.

Two of the players Whitaker coached at UK, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers and Evelyn Akhator, told the Herald-Leader they never had any issues with Whitaker.

“Coach Whitaker is a very loving and caring coach. I won’t believe anyone who says she abuses players emotionally,” Akhator said. “Whoever says she’s an emotional abuser isn’t worth playing basketball. Coach Camryn is one of the coaches that has players at heart.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2019 at 9:17 AM.