According to Foster’s Daily Democrat, former New Hampshire women’s coach Brian McCloskey has been indicted on three charges of simple assault and one charge of criminal threatening following an incident with a player last fall.
Allegedly, during a Nov. 30 loss to Ohio State, McCloskey said he grabbed the back of the player’s jersey and reprimanded her for talking back and not listening to direction, leading UNH to fire McCloskey for what it deemed “inappropriate physical contact” with the player.
Indictments from the Strafford County Superior Court show McCloskey has been charged with three counts of simple assault for “placing his body on top her body,” as well as pulling backward on her jersey and pushing and/or pulling the cage of her helmet. Each of these charges are Class A misdemeanors with a potential sentence of 12 months in jail and a $2,000 fine. McCloskey’s charge of criminal threatening is for grabbing the victim’s face while shouting that she couldn’t talk to him “like that,” as well as other expletives, also a Class A misdemeanor with the potential sentence as the simple assault charges.
McCloskey has been out on $1,000 bail since June 6 and has been ordered to have no contact with the victim or her family, according to the report. A plea/status hearing is set for Aug. 15.
In a letter to University of New Hampshire board of trustees chair Pamela Diamantis, McCloskey urged school officials to review the process taken by UNH that ultimately led to his termination. He added that in his 27 years as a Division I coach, he has never had a single incident of “inappropriate physical contact” and also asked for a public apology that has never been issued.
McCloskey has since been replaced as UNH’s head coach by Hillary Witt.
