Evansville places ex-Cat McCarty on leave. Coach facing Title IX investigation.

Former University of Kentucky basketball star Walter McCarty, whose Evansville basketball team came into Rupp Arena earlier this season and upset then No. 1-ranked Kentucky, has been placed on administrative leave by his school.

McCarty, in his second season as head coach at Evansville, is being investigated by the university for alleged violations of the school’s Title IX policy, according to a news release Friday.

Evansville said in its release that the school had received reports about McCarty’s off-court behavior, including a recent incident that appeared to violate its Title IX policy.

The school said a national law firm will conduct the investigation. Evansville officials said they have no plans to publicly discuss or disclose any specific details about the investigation.

The Evansville Courier and Press posted this quote from an internal letter to university staff by school president Chris Pietruszkiewicz:

“The University has received reports of unwelcome conduct by Coach McCarty since his arrival in March 2018. We have counseled him about his behavior. In the last two weeks, the University received a troubling report about Coach McCarty’s interactions with a member of the campus community. We have placed Coach McCarty on leave while that incident is being investigated.”

According to the Evansville newspaper’s account of the letter, Pietruszkiewicz said McCarty’s success as a basketball coach does not “in any way outweigh the need to uphold the standards that define our university. UE will not tolerate any behavior from any university employee or student that jeopardizes the safety and security of others.”

Evansville, which beat Kentucky 67-64 on Nov. 12, is off to a 9-4 start this season.

The Purple Aces’ next game is Tuesday at Missouri State.

Assistant coach Bennie Seltzer will serve as interim head coach during McCarty’s absence. Seltzer previously was a head coach at Samford and has been an assistant at Oklahoma, Marquette, Indiana and Washington State.

McCarty, a native of Evansville, played for Kentucky’s 1996 national championship team before a 10-year NBA career that included time with the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers.

Prior to his return to Evansville, McCarty was an assistant coach for the Celtics. He coached previously under Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville.

This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 1:52 PM.