Less than 24 hours later firing his head basketball coachNew Mexico state chancellor Dan Arvizu endorsed athletic director Mario Moccia three days after the basketball season was canceled due to hazing allegations.
After a «comprehensive review» of the school sports programsArvizu said that the «culture of bad behavior» was contained within the men’s basketball program.
The basketball court at the New Mexico State University Pan American Center is shown on February 15, 2023 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
«We’ve done a comprehensive review and analysis of our programs, and all I’ve learned is that our men’s basketball program has been infected with bad behavior, a culture of bad behavior,» Arvizu said Wednesday. «There have been some egregious violations of our student code of conduct, and there have been essentially other despicable acts.»
REMAINING NEW MEXICO STATE CONFERENCE GAMES ARE CONSIDERED LOSSES AFTER HAZING ALLEGATIONS SURFACE
«Our review indicates that this culture of bad behavior is contained in our men’s basketball program. That’s not anywhere else. And I want to make it clear.»
State of New Mexico canceled the season Sunday after a police report alleged three players ganged up on a teammate and attacked him in a case that includes charges of false imprisonment and criminal sexual contact.
On Tuesday, head coach Greg Heiar was fired, which Arvizu said was «for cause» on Wednesday.
greg heiar (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images/File)
Arvizu also said that there is an ongoing investigation by the school regarding the assistant coaches.
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«Mario has been extremely transparent with me about all the things that he knew when he knew them,» Arvizu said on Wednesday when asked about his confidence in the sporting director. «And we’ve been in constant contact around all the various things that we had control over and the things that were coming my way.»
«I have not lost confidence in Mario’s ability to essentially be our athletic director. He still has my complete confidence to turn this program around,» he continued.
The suspension comes at a troubling time in the Aggies’ program after a Nov. 19 shooting on the Albuquerque campus of rival New Mexico University left a 21-year-old Mike Peake, forward for the Aggies wounded and Brandon Travis, a 19-year-old UNM student, dead.
New Mexico state chancellor Dan Arvizu endorsed athletic director Mario Moccia three days after the basketball season was canceled due to hazing allegations. (AP Photo/Andrés Leighton/File)
Police reported that Travis and three other UNM students, including a 17-year-old girl, lured Peake to campus hours before the rivalry game.
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Surveillance footage posted by New Mexico State Police in December it showed three people approaching the basketball player from behind before hitting him in the legs with a baseball bat and shooting him in the left leg. Peake can then be seen pulling out a gun and firing several shots, which hit Travis and resulted in his death.
Three of Peake’s teammates, later identified as Issa Muhammad, Marchelus Avery, and Anthony Roy, picked him up from the scene and took him to a hospital.
The Aggies were 9-15 the year the season was cancelled. Their remaining games have been deemed lost by the Western Athletic Conference.
Ryan Gaydos and Elizabeth Pritchett of Fox News contributed to this report.