Rutgers will review the circumstances that led to Jevon Tyree quitting the football team over an alleged bullying incident, the school said in a statement Wednesday. Tyree asked the school discipline defensive coordinator Dave Cohen after an outright bullying episode led him to quit the team earlier this month, the Tyree family told NJ. On Wednesday, Tyrees parents, a pastor and athletic director Julie Hermann met to clarify misunderstandings and resolve the issues relating to Jevon Tyrees experience while at an athlete at Rutgers. University officials, in a brief statement, said only the interests of the student-athlete were central to their discussion. Rutgers also reiterated Tyrees scholarship will continue for the balance of the 2013-2014 academic year. The school said the universitys general counsel, John Farmer Jr., will review the incident and assess all relevant facts and any subsequent actions taken by the universitys athletics department. Farmer is the former N.J. Attorney General; he was also Senior Counsel to the 9/11 Commission, which investigated the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Tyree, a former cornerback, told the NJ that Cohen called him emasculating names and threatened to head-butt him during a study hall session. The incident occurred in April, the same month that Rutgers fired mens basketball coach Mike Rice and athletic director Tim Pernetti resigned in the wake of a misconduct scandal that put the school under national scrutiny. In a statement released Friday night, Rutgers said the incident between Tyree and Cohen was dealt with immediately. Rutgers says Tyrees father, Mark, brought up the incident in a conversation with new athletic director Julie Hermann in September while questioning his sons role on the team. Flood then met with the Tyrees again; Jevon Tyree said he would remain with the team, and Tyrees father told Hermann the matter was resolved. But Tyrees parents adamantly disputed the version of events as outlined in the Rutgers statement, telling NJ they never discussed the matter with Hermann and only talked with Flood after having personally called him and requested a meeting. In an interview with the Asbury Park Press on Saturday, Hermann said, Im sorry he doesnt remember that. I was informed about what happened, what they say happened, and we investigated it. Again. Reviewed it. Kyle Flood reviewed it. Hermann said neither the incident nor Cohens discipline would be reviewed again. However, that has now changed. Tyree quit the team Nov. 6, according to the school. Tyree told NJ he quit because about 10 teammates and a tutor saw the incident, which later transferred to the other coaches and led the redshirt freshman to feel ostracized. Tyrees parents said the outright bullying episode led to decreased repetitions in practice and exclusions from team meetings. The final straw came Nov. 2 when the Scarlet Knights, whose secondary had been racked by injuries, played a wide receiver at cornerback against Temple instead of Tyree.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:12:12 +0000
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