Report: Father of Morehead player wants Woods fired, says coach head-butted son last season
The father of one of the Morehead State University basketball players accusing head coach Sean Woods of assault is asking the school to fire the former Kentucky “Unforgettable.”
Edson Maitland told Myron Medcalf of ESPN on Wednesday that the alleged assault last month was not his son’s first run-in with the coach.
The senior Maitland said in the ESPN report that Woods head-butted Malik Maitland late last season.
Last month, Morehead State suspended Woods indefinitely, with pay, saying it was investigating “complaints” the school had received concerning its fifth-year head coach.
On Tuesday, WKYT reported that Woods is facing a misdemeanor battery charge in Indiana after two of his players — Maitland and Soufiyane Diakte — accused him of assaulting them during a game.
On Wednesday, MSU Athletics Director Brian Hutchinson released a statement saying the investigation was drawing to a close.
“As we communicated in our initial statement, when we were made aware of the accusations the university initiated an internal administrative review and suspended Coach Woods,” Hutchinson said. “The administrative review process is nearing completion. Once completed, further comment may be made at that time. Since this is both a student matter and personnel issue, we intend to respect and protect the privacy of individuals and ask that rightful and appropriate due process be allowed for all involved.”
Edson Maitland told ESPN he is awaiting a personal response from the school and asked the NCAA to “step in and take appropriate action” against Woods and his coaching staff.
Assistant coach Preston Spradlin is leading the team during the investigation.
The Eagles are 2-7 after an 88-86 loss at Eastern Washington on Tuesday night and have not won a game since Woods was suspended on Nov. 22.
The investigation of Woods came early in his fifth season at Morehead State and his first since being awarded a contract extension through 2020 on June 27.
Woods said then that he was excited to build on a 75-63 record in his first four seasons.
“This extension shows that I’m here for the long haul and that I’ve bought in to what is going on here at Morehead State,” he said. “We are committed to creating a culture of excellence, both on and off the court.”
Woods was a member of the University of Kentucky basketball team from 1988-92 and was part of the group that became known as the “Unforgettables” for sticking with the Cats through their probation.
This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Report: Father of Morehead player wants Woods fired, says coach head-butted son last season."