Four days after the now viral incident, Morehouse College president F. DuBois Bowman issued a statement addressing the handcuffing of Tuskegee coach Benjy Taylor.
The basketball coach of Tuskegee University hired civil rights attorneys after he was handcuffed by a Morehouse College campus police officer and escorted off the court last weekend.
In a now-viral video, Tuskegee coach Benjy Taylor can be seen asking security to intervene as Morehouse football players disrupt the players’ handshake line at the end of the game. After exchanging words, the Morehouse campus police officer handcuffed Taylor and led him across the court. He was later released without charges.
What happened?
Morehouse had just beaten Tuskegee 77-69 on Jan. 31 and were preparing for the end-of-game handshake line. Reports indicate that Morehouse College football players attempted to disrupt that process.
Taylor said he was trying to ensure everyone was safe during the postgame handshake line.
“I was simply trying to get the football team out of the handshake line as they were following right behind me and the team, yelling obscenities. It was a very dangerous situation,” he said.
Who is Benjy Taylor?
Taylor has coached Tuskegee’s men’s basketball program for six seasons.
Prior to joining the Alabama HBCU, Taylor served as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State during the 2015-16 season. Taylor was interim head coach at the University of Hawaii during the 2014-15 season, where he was named the Hugh Durham Mid-Season Mid Major National Coach of the Year.
Taylor’s previous coaching stops include three years at Chicago State, where he received Independent Division I Coach of the Year honors.
Taylor was a student-athlete at the University of Richmond and earned his bachelor’s degree with a double major in criminal justice and sociology. During his two years as a graduate assistant coach at Richmond, he helped lead the school to the NCAA Tournament.
In a statement to @TheFieldOf68 after the incident, Taylor said he was “at a loss for words, and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today. For my players, my family and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking for me.”
What are Benjy Taylor’s lawyers saying?
One of Taylor’s attorneys, Harry Daniels, shared a comment with online sports publication The Athletic on Monday.
“It would be bad for a police officer to treat anyone like this,” Daniels said. “But to do it to a man like coach Taylor, a highly respected professional and role model, to put him in handcuffs, humiliate him and treat him like a criminal in front of his team, his family and a gym full of fans is absolutely disgusting and they need to be held accountable.”
Taylor is reportedly exploring the possibility of filing a civil suit.
What is Tuskegee University’s response?
Tuskegee University President Mark A. Brown released a letter on Feb. 1 to students and alumni in full support of Taylor.
“During the events in question, Coach Taylor acted solely out of his fundamental responsibility to protect his student-athletes and staff — particularly in an environment where agreed-upon and customary game‑management and security protocols were not properly carried out,” the statement said in part. “His conduct remained measured, professional, and entirely consistent with the expectations of a head coach entrusted with the safety of his team.
“At no time did Coach Taylor engage in behavior that could be characterized as unbecoming, unprofessional, or inconsistent with the standards of Tuskegee University, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), Morehouse College, or intercollegiate athletics broadly,” the statement continued.
What is the conference’s response?
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference issued an official statement Monday. In it, it said the conference “determined that Morehouse College did not satisfy the required security standards for a host institution, specifically as it relates to crowd control and ensuring the safe entry and exit of visiting teams and game participants.”
The statement went on to say the SIAC “has imposed a fine on Morehouse College of an undisclosed amount and will require corrective measures to ensure full compliance with conference security policies moving forward.”
What is Morehouse College saying?
The Morehouse College president issued a statement to students, faculty and staff.
“I am writing to address the unfortunate incident that occurred during the basketball game against Tuskegee on Saturday. There was an escalated incident that resulted in Tuskegee’s head coach Benjy Taylor’s brief detainment and escort off the court by a safety officer, after asserting there was a breach in game management and safety protocols. The College issued an apology directly to Coach Taylor on the night of the game, as the detainment did not reflect the desires that we have for Morehouse. Morehouse staff quickly connected with Tuskegee and the SIAC leadership to collaborate on a path forward in goodwill. Since then, the incident involving the officer and Coach Taylor has become an active legal matter, limiting further comments.
To fully understand what took place, Morehouse did not rush to issue public commentary but rather collected information for broader context, including video footage and interviews with witnesses. Many public accounts have not fully and accurately captured the context of what occurred and, in some cases, have mischaracterized our students and the institution. As an attendee at the game, I did not observe conduct that was clearly outside of what is commonly seen at competitive collegiate athletic events, specifically at the conclusion of a winning home game, when fellow Morehouse students were congratulating the Morehouse basketball players.
The SIAC published a statement on Monday announcing the conclusion of an investigation and issuing sanctions against Morehouse related to crowd control and safe entry and exit at the game. While Morehouse leadership and I take the SIAC’s findings seriously, we have questions about an investigation that did not include a request for the College’s input but ultimately determined responsibility and a fine. This falls short of the due diligence expected of a fair and comprehensive process, and we are engaging directly with the SIAC to reconsider, given the precedent such decisions set for all SIAC institutions.
As we move forward, Morehouse will continue to stand for integrity, accountability, and responsible leadership. We will engage constructively while advocating for fair treatment and accurate representation, consistent with our legacy of upholding standards that have defined Morehouse College for more than a century.”
This is a developing story.
