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It has been almost five years since I resigned from Tennessee State University.  I did not speak out at that time because my lawyer advised me not to say anything until the NCAA investigation was over.  By the time the investigation was over, I really wanted just to move forward and not bring up past events.  Due to me not speaking out when I resigned, people have presumed that the stories written about me were completely true. 

Before I was a coach at Tennessee State University, I was an assistant coach at University of Arkansas for 10 years.  I had a reputation of being a trustworthy and well-mannered coach.  Now due to the inaccuracy in the media from when I was a coach at Tennessee State University my reputation is tarnished. My motive now to address articles from when I was head coach is not to damage TSU reputation as a school, I was very proud that I was head coach at Tennessee State University.   I feel I have to speak out due to reporters, still today when my name is mention, taking what I call ‘pop shots' at me where they mention me attacking my assistant with a gun, which is untrue.  

I have had people make me feel like a criminal when they say I cannot work with youth due to having a gun charges.  I never had any charges brought against me from that night.  My assistant coach, Hosea Lewis, could not press charges against me because he attacked me and I never assaulted him after or before he attacked me.  In addition, I never took a gun in the complex and it was only afterwards when I said I had the gun in my vehicle did anyone know about it.  Besides, the gun left in my car was an honest oversight and never intended to harm anyone.

My Athletic Director, Teresa Philips, handle the situation unfairly causing the media reports, which explained my reason for the gun, to look like I was a violent person.  I do not blame the Press for the inaccurate stories because two of my assistant coaches lied about events from that night to cover up their own actions.  In addition, the media never interviewed my other coaches, Clay Howell and George Frasier.  They were witnesses that I did not have a gun when I returned after Mr. Lewis attacked me.  The fact is the Press did not know everything that took place so at this time I am telling the account of events from Christmas night 2002 and what lead to my resignation. 

December 21, 2002:

Tennessee State University played a basketball game against UTEP. After the game, I addressed the team and told them that due to us having games against Ohio State on the 28th and Kentucky on the 30th that we needed more practices to be ready.  I informed players and coaches that we would have a few days off for the holidays but the next practice would be at 8 pm on December 25.  The following morning all players and coaches met in the hotel lobby and I reminded everyone again that they must be at practice on Christmas Day. As the players were leaving the hotel, I stop the coaches and for third time reminded them that they needed to be at practice on Christmas Day so there was no misunderstanding. 

December 25, 2002:

George Frazier, Student Coach, had notify me few days before that someone told him that Hosea Lewis, my First Assistant Coach, inform the players I would not be at practice on Christmas night so they did not need to show up.  I thought Mr. Frazier was mistaken because I never told Mr. Lewis I would not be at practice.  I tried to call Mr. Lewis several times to talk to him about this but he never returned my calls. 

I drove to practice with Mr. Frazier and we met my Third Assistant Coach, Clay Howell, at the gym.  At 8:45 pm, no players had shown up either had Chris Graves, my Second Assistant Coach, or Mr. Lewis.  I asked Mr. Howell "Where is everybody?  They all knew we were having practice."  Now I am thinking that Mr. Lewis might have cancel practice with out my okay so I called half of the players and Mr. Howell called the other half to see why they were not at practice.  The players I called told me Mr. Lewis told them I would not be at practice so they did not need to show up.  Mr. Howell told me that the players he talked too said the same, that Mr. Lewis told them there was no practice. 

 I called Mr. Graves; he did not answer his phone. After several attempts to contact Mr. Graves, I then asked Mr. Howell to call him with his phone.  Mr. Graves answer Mr. Howell phone call the first time he called.  Mr. Howell told him we are having practice and he said, "Okay."  I then tried to call Mr. Lewis again, he still had not returned any of my calls, and finally he answers the phone.  I said, "Where are you? Because we are going to have practice."   He replied, "I thought practice was at 10 p.m.?"  I said, "No!" and I hung up. I never told him that I found out he had cancelled practice days earlier. 

At 9:15 pm, four of the players that lived in Nashville that I called showed up for practice. At first, they shot around then they started playing against each other.  I was on the gym floor with the players when at about 9:45 pm Mr. Graves and Mr. Lewis walked into practice together.  I continue with practice and do not know what Mr. Lewis and Mr. Graves were doing during that time. Mr. Frazier and Mr. Howell went to wash the practice gear. The players played for about 10 more minutes then I told the players to go home because it was getting late.  The players headed to the locker room while I stayed in the gym.

I walked to the score table to put on my sweat suit.  Mr. Lewis and Mr. Graves walked over toward the score table and they sat down.  Mr. Lewis told me that he knew I was mad.  I said "yes" and asked, "Why did you tell the players they did not have to show up for practice."  Mr. Lewis response was, "But me and Chris are here." I remained silent and did not say anything. He then went on to say, "I know you, and I know you're mad.  I know you're mad, but me and Chris are here." I could not understand why he kept saying ‘but me and Chris are here' so I said, "Its not about us, it's about the team.  We have to be ready to play Ohio State and Kentucky." Mr. Lewis again repeats the fact that he knows that I am mad. 

I started to say, "Let me explain to you" but all of a sudden, Mr. Lewis jumps up and starts screaming, not at me but just screaming.  Mr. Lewis then threw a bag of scoreboard chains at me.  Mr. Lewis then proceeded to strike me with his fist, his fist hit me on the side of my neck.  I said "You're fired Hosea", I felt it was unsafe to have him as a coach.  Mr. Lewis then ran out of the gym.  I was shocked and did not understand why Mr. Lewis had shown that kind of aggression toward me.  I turned to Chris and asked, "What's wrong with him (Mr. Lewis)."  Few minutes later, Mr. Lewis came back into the gym but now he had a chain in his hand and he was walking toward me yelling at me "Come On! Come On! We don't have to listen to you! I am tired of your ****! Come On!"  When I see Mr. Lewis with the chain in his hand, I began to panic because I did not know what he was going to do with the chain. (Mr. Lewis physical attack on me was never in the media even though I wrote that incidence down for campus security.  I believe that by leaving those factual events out of the media it lead people to believe me to be the attacker and not Mr. Lewis.)

It was clear in my mind that Mr. Lewis was going to hurt me if he had the chance but I did not want him to think I was frighten.  I started talking bold to Mr. Lewis so he would think he did not threaten me.  As I am walking backward toward the exit door to get away from Mr. Lewis, I started looking for something to protect myself from the chain in his hand but see nothing.  I reach the outside door, as I am going to my vehicle I am still looking for something to protect myself in case Mr. Lewis comes outside after me. I still to this day do not know why Mr. Lewis physically attacked me and I have never spoken to him since I walked out of the gym that night.        

I was going to leave campus but I remembered that Mr. Howell and Mr. Frazier were still in the complex and Mr. Frazier had ridden with me.  Mr. Lewis did not follow me outside so I decided I would go back in the building to get Mr. Howell and Mr. Frazier.  The next thing that happens is the major part that the media got incorrect and has people thinking I am a criminal.  Therefore, I want to make it very clear, I NEVER took a gun into the complex.  I went back into the complex without a weapon, I did not look for Mr. Lewis and I did not go inside the gym area where Mr. Lewis had attacked me.  I walked to my office looking for Mr. Frazier and Mr. Howell but did not see anyone then I saw them in Mr. Howell office.  I told them about Mr. Lewis physically attacking me.  Mr. Howell said, "I heard Hosea yelling."  We talked for a while then I told Mr. Frazier and Mr. Howell that we needed to leave.  Mr. Howell went to his car, Mr. Frazier went to lock up and I went outside to wait for him.

As I am waiting outside, I see Mr. Graves coming down the stairs.  The newspaper would report that Mr. Graves said I asked where Mr. Lewis was because I had something for him so he talked to me for 15 minutes to calm me down and saw me put what looked to be a gun in the pocket of my sweatshirt.  Keep in mind, Mr. Howell and Mr. Frazier just talked to me, they are witnesses that could vouch that I was not acting crazy and I did not have a gun outside or in the complex.  However, their statements never made it into the Press, Teresa Phillips (TSU Athletic Director) would later have Mr. Howell, and Mr. Frazier removed from the team. 

Mr. Graves never let Mrs. Phillips know the actual conversation he had with me outside but this is what he said.  Mr. Graves said, "I don't know what wrong with Mr. Lewis."  I said, "I know that you both are behind every thing (meaning NCAA violations) that's going on here."  Mr. Graves then said, "Teresa is trying to get you out, so that Hosea could be the coach." I said, "Whatever!  I know that you both are wrong, both you guys are fired!"  Mr. Graves left Mr. Frazier came up to me he had heard Mr. Graves's conversation with me. Mr. Frazier said, "I told you they (Mr. Lewis and Mr. Graves) were up to something.

We had suspected the two of them were the ones that were lying to NCAA. Mr. Frazier had tried to tell me for months that those two were treacherous but I did not want to believe it.  By this time I was so confused I did not know whom or what to believe, I had just been physically attack by my assistant coach and my other assistant told me my AD was plotting with my assistant coach to get rid of me.  That is why that night I never called my AD, Mrs. Phillips, to tell her Mr. Lewis assaulted me.  I thought everything would be better since I had fired Mr. Lewis and Mr. Graves. 

I should have contacted the Nashville Police or campus security that night but I was not sure if I wanted to press charges against Mr. Lewis because he was not some stranger, I thought he was a friend.   Also, being a head coach to me means being loyal to your team and university. I did not want the media attention brought to the team if the story got out that Mr. Lewis assaulted me.

December 26th, 2002: 

The next morning we had practice at the gym. Mr. Graves showed up at practice alone, walked up to me, and told me "Hosea was going to come but I told him not too". They both were acting as if I had not fired them the night before.  I did not believe it at the time but I now think someone above me helped them keep their jobs. Therefore, I was stun when I later heard they were in fear of their lives and Mr. Graves would go as far as to say he was frightened because he watched me try to "un-chamber a round" of ammunition from a gun Christmas night.  Mr. Graves did not display any actions or say anything during practice that would make the other coaches, players or I think he felt threatened in anyway by me.  Mr. Lewis referred to me as crazy and implied I made threatening gestures toward him but he told Mr. Graves he was going to come to practice but Mr. Graves told him not too. 

Around 6 pm, I got a call from my AD, Mrs. Phillips, to meet her at the campus security office to talk about what happen last night.  I do not know who notified her about the incident.  When I arrived, the campus security told me "we are family, whatever happens here, stays here".  I said, "What does that mean?" he then asked what happen.  I began telling him how Mr. Lewis threw a bag of chains at me, then hits me between my shoulder and neck, and ran out of the gym.  I then told him about Mr. Lewis coming back into the gym with a chain in his hand and walked toward me yelling at me. I told him that I was talking bold to Mr. Lewis as I backed up to the exit door and then I left the gym.  I said I went to my vehicle to get a crowbar to protect myself in case Mr. Lewis came outside with the chain. 

Nobody asked me about a gun but I chose to disclose to campus security and Mrs. Phillips that I had an unloaded gun to convey how extreme Mr. Lewis behavior was that night.  I told them I saw my gun but it had no clip in it.  I explained that the reason I had the gun in the vehicle was I left to go out of town days earlier. I had teenage children that were home alone and I did not want the gun in the house.  I had locked the gun in my vehicle and kept the clip locked up in my house.  I just failed to remember to put it up when I got back in town.  I did not realize the gun was still in my vehicle until I open the back of my Navigator after Mr. Lewis attacked me.  I never brought a gun to campus on purpose it was an honest oversight. My intention was never to use the gun as a weapon but as a bluff if Mr. Lewis followed me outside.  I only stated it to Mrs. Phillips to illustrate the severity of the situation with Mr. Lewis and his actions that night.

Mrs. Phillips walked out of the room then campus security asked me to write down what I had told him about what happen that night.  I wrote it down for him then he came back telling me that I needed to write another one.  I wrote a second account of the events but this time campus security was telling me what was necessary and what was not.  Understand I am thinking I am writing this as documentation so Mrs. Phillips can officially fire Mr. Lewis for assaulting a co-worker.  I did not know until afterwards that, I should have had a lawyer present that day and those words would later be refer to as my written statement to police. 

Mrs. Phillips came in and said, "Coach I am going to have suspend you from this road trip."  I said, "What, why" then Mrs. Phillips said, "You brought a gun on campus."  I told her "Teresa it was an oversight from when I went out of town to El Paso".  She said "but you had a gun on campus" I asked her "who is going to coach the team?" because I am thinking Mr. Lewis is going to be fired for attacking a co-worker. Mrs. Phillips said, "The First Assistant", which is Mr. Lewis. I asked her, "How is he going coach the team? He is the one that attacked me!"  Mrs. Phillips said, "You had a gun." I told her "I did not go after anybody; I am mentioning it to you so you know how serious the situation is with Hosea."  Mrs. Phillips said again, "You had a gun." Instead of letting me fire the person that assaulted me, Mrs. Phillips gave him my job and suspended me.  I felt frustrated and betrayed because I had pointed out the gun only to let them know I felt I was in a dangerous situation. 

I left the security office to go to the gym to address the team with Mrs. Phillips and campus security.  I told the team that I would not be making this trip and for them to hang in there and it will be all right.  I did not want Mr. Lewis to coach the team but I still wanted the team to do well so I never told the team that Mr. Lewis assaulted me.  The day I left the gym, Mrs. Phillips told me that my suspension for having a gun on campus would be two games.  At that time, I am thinking that I was still the head coach and that once I serve my suspension that I would speak to whomever I needed to at TSU about how Mr. Lewis and Mr. Graves were still coaching after I fired them.  Mr. Lewis especially, he should have been fired for assaulting and threatening a co-worker with a "Dangerous Weapon".    

December 27, 2002:

Mrs. Phillips called to tell me that there is a campus security coming to my house to give me a letter to say that I was indefinitely suspended. In addition, not to come on campus until this matter is resolved. The campus security gave me the letter and left.  At this point, I am shock because nothing is going to happen to Mr. Lewis for attacking a co-worker.  I realize Mr. Graves was right when he said Mrs. Phillips wanted to get rid of me so Mr. Lewis could be the coach.  I still felt I was doing the right thing for the team and TSU by not involving the Nashville Police.  If I had known the events that would happen later, I would have contacted Nashville Police to press charges against Mr. Lewis. 

December 31, 2002:

Mrs. Phillips called me at 9:30 pm because I refused to resign.  Mrs. Phillips told me resigning would be the best thing for me to do, I told her "No".  I wanted to fight to keep my job because I was the injured party not Mr. Lewis but I did not know whom I could trust to call.  I kept thinking that someone above Mrs. Phillips at Tennessee State University was going to step in and help me.  Mrs. Phillips continued to call back several times but I did not talk to her because I was not going to resign so I turned it over to an attorney.

During the time Mrs. Phillips was calling telling me to resign, Mr. Lewis the man that attacked me was also calling me.  I would not answer his phone calls so he left me messages.  Several messages said, "You need to resign because if you don't Teresa (TSU AD) is going to the Press to ruin your career." and other messages said, "Teresa wants to ruin your career, so resign because she is after you!" I was not going to trust the man that had taken my position as head coach.  Therefore, I still would not resign because I had not done anything wrong so why would I care if Mrs. Phillips went to the Press.  I felt if Mrs. Phillips went to the Press then the truth would come out.  I had no idea the extent Mrs. Phillips would go to get rid of me until a few days later. 

January 7, 2003:

What Mr. Lewis said Mrs. Phillips was going to do is what did happen.  Mrs. Phillips was the contact person to the Press and reporters had incorrect information given to them. Even quotes that I had written for campus security, when I thought I was writing documentation for Mrs. Phillips to fire Mr. Lewis, were inaccurate and in the Press as my written statement to police.  Mr. Lewis and Mr. Graves lied to campus security to make me look like the attacker. In addition, Mrs. Phillips had Mr. Howell fired and Mr. Frazier scholarship taken away because they witness events that would discredit Mr. Graves and Mr. Lewis.    

After speaking with family, friends and my lawyer about the situation, I decided I needed to go ahead and resign.  It was a hard choice to make because my resignation had nothing to do with wins or loses.  The media gave the reason for my resignation as to avoid TSU from pressing charges against me.  The actual explanation for my resignation was I was dealing with people that were very deceitful and I still had to go through a NCAA investigation involving these same people.   For that reason, I resigned on January 8, 2003. 

My resignation was unnecessary because I never brought a gun on campus to harm anyone it was an honest but agonizing oversight by me.  I do believe that having a gun on campus is a serious issue. Mrs. Phillips was correct to suspend me and she could have even fired me if Tennessee State University felt they had to follow a "Zero Tolerance" policy.  Instead, Mrs. Phillips forced me to resign by smearing my name in the Press.  Mrs. Phillips was wrong to overlook that Mr. Lewis hit me and threaten me with a dangerous weapon when he came at me with a chain. She also disregard the severity of the physically attack on me by Mr. Lewis. 

I anticipate that after reading my blog that more people will be aware of the actual events that happen and can better judge the type of person I am.  I am not a violent person or a criminal, I am a compassionate basketball coach that found himself caught up in an awful situation when I tried to do what I thought was the right thing at that time.