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New Mexico State head basketball coach Greg Heiar feared retaliation in the aftermath of the fatal shooting involving one of his players at the University of New Mexico last month.
In body cam footage from the New Mexico State Police Department obtained by ESPN's Myron Medcalf, Heiar told Officer David Esquibel he was concerned for the "safety" of his family and players.
Heiar spoke with Esquibel hours after New Mexico State's Mike Peake shot and killed University of New Mexico student Brandon Travis on Nov. 19. Police have deemed the shooting to be self-defense.
Heiar said his concern stemmed from his wife and daughter being at the game in the same location where a New Mexico student was shot.
"I'm worried about my wife and daughter just being at the game," he told Esquibel. "A student shot...people say, a New Mexico State basketball player shot a student. That's not going to go over well in front of 15,000 people. This is about the safety of everybody. That's where I'm at."
A game between New Mexico State and New Mexico at The Pit was scheduled to take place Nov. 19, but it was postponed as a result of the shooting, which took place in the early hours of gameday.
According to New Mexico State police (h/t Medcalf), Peake said he was "lured" to the campus by four University of New Mexico students before an altercation led to the shooting.
"Through investigation, agents later learned that Travis had conspired with a 17-year-old female and two of Travis's male friends, all UNM students, to lure the 21-year-old victim to UNM campus and assault him," the police said in a statement.
Peake was also shot in the incident, but he was listed in stable condition. New Mexico State athletic director Mario Moccia announced this week that Peake has been indefinitely suspended from the basketball team and an independent investigator will be hired to review the events surrounding the shooting.
The 17-year-old girl involved has been charged with aggravated battery and conspiracy. Police are offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to the apprehension of two other male suspects.
The New Mexico State men's basketball team left the University of New Mexico campus after Albuquerque police requested to interview three members of the roster in connection to the shooting involving Aggies basketball player Mike Peake, according to police.
ESPN's Myron Medcalf reported Friday that investigators wanted to question Marchelus Avery, Issa Muhammad and Anthony Roy and told head coach Greg Heiar of their plans. Police said Heiar initially responded he "had to make sure the athletes didn't need an attorney and told police he would respond to their request soon," per Medcalf.
Instead, the NMSU players allegedly boarded the team bus, which began its journey back to Las Cruces. Police eventually caught up with the bus and began a search. Medcalf detailed the police's version of what happened next:
Inside, police said, they located Peake's tablet, which was in a backpack held by Lorenzo Jenkins, who serves as a special assistant to Heiar. According to the investigation report, Peake's phone was located later in Las Cruces. Braun Cartwright, NMSU's deputy athletic director, had called the officer and told him that an unnamed administrator had the phone.
Officers also said they recovered Peake's gun at the team hotel from assistant coach Dominique Taylor, who was reportedly informed by Avery, Muhammad and Roy where he could find the gun.
Per Jamel Valencia of KFOX14 in El Paso, Texas, surveillance footage showed three people approaching Peake on Nov. 19. New Mexico State was in Albuquerque for a game against New Mexico that had been canceled.
Investigators with NMSU said the people attempted to "lure" Peake onto campus as revenge in connection to a fight at a football game between NMSU and New Mexico. After being physically confronted and attacked, Peake ran and shot New Mexico student Brandon Travis. Travis died at the scene, while Peake was hospitalized with a gunshot wound.
Medcalf reported Avery, Muhammad and Roy were seated inside a yellow Camaro in the parking lot where the shooting occurred. T.J. Wilham of KOAT in Albuquerque reported Peake was shown placing items into the Camaro's trunk.
It's unclear what happened with the tablet, cellphone and gun before they were retrieved by authorities.
No criminal charges have been brought against any members of the New Mexico State men's basketball program.
The school suspended Peake indefinitely pending results of the ongoing investigation.
New Mexico State University suspended Mike Peake from its basketball team as an investigation into a fatal shooting that took place in the early hours of Nov. 19 continues.
“Mike is suspended from our basketball team until the completion of the university’s investigation and the investigation of the proper authorities,” New Mexico State athletic director Mario Moccia told reporters. “When those investigations will be complete, I can’t say.”
Police say Peake shot and killed 19-year-old Brandon Travis on the University of New Mexico campus after Travis and three others allegedly lured Peake to campus to attack him. Peake suffered a leg injury in the shooting and underwent multiple surgeries.
"Through investigation, agents later learned that Travis had conspired with a 17-year-old female and two of Travis's male friends, all UNM students, to lure the 21-year-old victim to UNM campus and assault him," New Mexico State police said in a statement.
Further investigation showed Peake skipped curfew in Albuquerque ahead of the Aggies' game against the Lobos to meet up with the 17-year-old female on the New Mexico campus, where he was met by the girl, Travis and two other male assailants. According to the police report, one man hit Peake with a baseball bat and another shot at Peake while he was running away at which point Peake shot back, striking Travis four times.
The planned attack was revenge for a fight that began weeks prior at a New Mexico vs. New Mexico State football game. Jonathan Smith and the unnamed girl have been charged with crimes related to the attack.
According to police, Peake was seen on video meeting teammates Issa Muhammad, Marcelus Avery and Anthony Roy following the shooting and putting items into the trunk of a car. Head coach Greg Heiar and assistant coach Dominque Taylor are regularly mentioned in the police report as being uncooperative in the subsequent police investigation.
The report says police received resistance from the players and coaching staff for weeks regarding the investigation as they attempted to recover the weapon used to shoot Travis, along with Peak's tablet and cell phone.
“I emphasized to Coach Taylor how important it was to recover the gun and other items that were placed in the trunk,” state police agent David Esquibel wrote. “I asked him to let me know if he finds out any information about the Camaro, the gun or other items and he said he would.”
Police eventually found Taylor in possession of the weapon wrapped in a towel. They have also recovered Peake's tablet and cell phone as the investigation continues.
There has been no word on what potential criminal charges could be pursued.
The game at New Mexico and the scheduled Dec. 3 rematch between the teams in Las Cruces, New Mexico were both canceled.
Seattle University has suspended men's basketball head coach Jim Hayford and placed him on administrative leave pending an internal investigation into allegations from a player who said he repeated the N-word on two occasions, per Jeff Goodman of Stadium.
Hayford allegedly used the word during a scrimmage Thursday with the team preparing for its Nov. 10 season opener at home against Alcorn State.
"Sources said that it wasn’t the first time that Hayford had repeated the word after one of his players said it, and that it also occurred once during the summer," Goodman wrote.
"A Black player used the word during Thursday's scrimmage, and it was then called into question by one of the officials. Hayford then repeated the word in an effort to curtail its use."
"Did you say the N-word?" Hayford allegedly asked the player.
Goodman also reported issues between Hayford and the Seattle Redhawks players separate from the allegations.
"Most of the players don’t like him, so this was almost the final straw," a source told Goodman. "He’s very emotional, flammable. It can be a hostile environment."
Hayford reportedly apologized to his team Friday, but the "majority" of the Redhawks are "refusing" to play for him, per Goodman.
Hayford has been a high school and college coach from 1987 to the present date. The 53-year-old led Eastern Washington from 2011 to 2017 before becoming Seattle's head coach. He also led Sioux Falls (1999-2001) and Whitworth (2001-2011).
Hayford leads an eight-person coaching staff. Chris Victor and Alex Pribble are listed as associate head coaches.
Last year's Redhawks went 12-11 overall (4-5 Western Athletic Conference) under Hayford. They return many of their players from last year's squad, including leading scorer and sophomore guard Darrion Trammell (20.5 PPG) and junior wing Riley Grigsby (17.8 PPG).
Grand Canyon University has quarantined its entire basketball team after six people involved with the program tested positive for COVID-19, per the Arizona Republic.
"The university has been working diligently over the last few months to ensure that proper protocols and procedures are in place and, as a result, we were able to quickly address the positive COVID-19 cases," GCU Interim Vice President of Athletics Jamie Boggs said.
This article will be updated to provide more information soon.
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Grand Canyon University has fired men's basketball coach Dan Majerle after seven years at the helm.
"We made the decision to move in a new direction with our men's basketball program," per GCU President Brian Mueller in a release (h/t Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic). "We wish Coach Majerle the best of luck in his future endeavors."
Majerle went 136-89 in seven seasons for the Antelopes and led the team to 20 or more wins from 2015-16 to 2018-19. Grand Canyon made the CIT or CBI in five of his campaigns and reached the Western Athletic Conference title game twice.
GCU fell to a Majerle-era worst 13-17 last season, however, finishing in a tie for fifth in the WAC.
Per Obert, GCU was short-handed this year with senior Oscar Frayer being declared academically ineligible and transfer Jaylen Fisher never becoming eligible after transferring from TCU.
Assistant Marvin Menzies will be the interim head coach for now, but Obert noted that he might be a candidate to assume the role full time.
Majerle played 13 NBA seasons for the Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers from 1988 to 2002, making the All-Star Game three times. He averaged 11.4 points per game with a career-high 17.3 in 1991-92. The 6'6" wing was an integral part of the 1992-93 Suns, who won the Western Conference.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City men's basketball team isn't traveling to Seattle for its conference matchup with the Seattle Redhawks on Saturday, the Western Athletic Conference announced Wednesday.
UMKC cited fears over the coronavirus for its decision, and it's the second school to make such a determination after Chicago State canceled its game against Seattle, originally scheduled for Thursday.
WAC Commissioner Jeff Hurd issued a statement on the situation:
"While disappointed that the situation has evolved as it has, I fully respect the right of any member institution to determine what it believes to in the best interest of its student-athletes. From a conference standpoint, the necessary adjustments will be made according to NCAA policy in order to bracket the conference tournament scheduled for March 11-14 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas."
The coronavirus has killed 3,200 people worldwide with more than 92,000 confirmed cases.
According to the Seattle Times, health officials in Washington state have diagnosed 28 people with the virus, and the death toll has climbed to 10.
The NCAA announced Tuesday it had set up a panel comprised of "leading medical, public health and epidemiology experts from their respective fields of study and NCAA member schools." The group is tasked with monitoring the spread of COVID-19 to determine any steps required to combat the outbreak.
ESPN's Jeff Passan reported MLB sent a memo to its 30 teams saying it doesn't have any plans to cancel spring training or regular-season games. The memo also included recommendations for players and team personnel in response to the virus.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe of ESPN, the NBA issued a similar memo to its teams recommending players use fist-bumps with fans and avoid signing autographs and nothing the league is already discussing how the coronavirus could impact the buildup to the 2020 draft on June 25.
