Former Miss KY Basketball, UK guard among six suing Pitt’s Tory Verdi, university
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Six former Pitt players filed federal suits alleging Verdi created a hostile environment.
- Plaintiffs seek declaration, injunctive relief, damages and attorney fees.
- Pitt vows to defend Verdi; suits allege race-based demands and awareness by athletics dept.
Brooklynn Miles, the 2021 Miss Kentucky Basketball and a former Kentucky Wildcat, is one of six former Pittsburgh women’s basketball players to sue head coach Tory Verdi and the university.
As first reported by TribLive.com, the six individual lawsuits were filed last Friday in the U.S. district court for the western district of Pennsylvania and allege that Verdi “created a hostile environment, abused players psychologically and retaliated against them after they complained.”
Front Office Sports reported Tuesday that the plaintiffs “are requesting relief in the form of a declaration from the university and Verdi that players’ rights were violated, injunctive relief, compensatory damages and attorney’s fees.”
In the lawsuits, the plaintiffs allege not only that Verdi created a harmful team culture utilizing fear and intimidation, and that the culture involved degrading and divisive words and actions — including race-based demands such as, per TribLive.com, “asserting that players ‘hung out’ only with others of the same race” —but also that the university and its athletics department were made aware of the allegations.
Miles, a 2021 graduate of Franklin County High School, was named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit alongside former Pitt women’s basketball players Favor Ayodele, Raeven Boswell, Makayla Elmore, Isabella Perkins and Jasmine Timmerson. Only Boswell remains a student at the university; Ayodele (Grand Canyon), Perkins (Boston College) and Timmerson (Davidson College) are currently playing Division I basketball elsewhere, and Elmore and Miles have each exhausted their eligibility.
Keenan Holmes, the attorney representing the six women, told TribLive on Monday that Verdi’s behavior extended far past that expected of a typical college coach.
“This case is not about the X’s and O’s of coaching,” Homes told TribLive. “Some of his actions go beyond sports. This went beyond the bounds of decency. We’re looking for Pitt to do the right thing to make sure other players don’t have the same experience.”
University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer dismissed the allegations of Verdi’s behavior.
“The university is aware of these lawsuits and their allegations, which are without merit and will be vigorously defended,” Stonesifer said.
Verdi, who was hired as Pitt’s head coach in April 2023, has led the Panthers to an overall record of 29-60. This is Verdi’s 15th season as a head coach; he came to Pitt after seven seasons with Massachusetts. Pitt has not reached the postseason during Verdi’s tenure, and with six games remaining in this year’s campaign, the Panthers are 8-17 (1-11 ACC).
Miles — a point guard who transferred to Kentucky ahead of the 2023-24 season after two years at Tennessee — entered the portal again upon the conclusion of that season following the firing of former head coach Kyra Elzy.
Miles and Amiya Jenkins — the 2022 Miss Kentucky Basketball and a two-year Wildcat — entered the portal after Elzy’s firing and both landed at Pitt for the 2024-25 season. Miles averaged 6.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.9 steals across 32 games, making 27 starts in her fourth and final season of college basketball.
Jenkins played in three games for the Panthers that season before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Now a redshirt junior, Jenkins is averaging 3.9 points and 1.6 rebounds in 14.1 minutes over the course of 19 games this season, making four starts.
Former Boyd County standout Audrey Biggs, now a sophomore, committed to Verdi out of high school and, like Jenkins, remains a member of the Pitt program. This season, Biggs has averaged 1.3 points in 6.2 minutes across 15 games, and made one start.
