A day after earning an invitation to the NCAA tournament, Cal has parted ways with an assistant coach.
As first reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, assistant Yann Hufnagel has been fired after an investigation into claims of sexual harassment. Cal confirmed the news in a statement from the athletics department.
“California’s head men’s basketball coach, Cuonzo Martin, has initiated termination proceedings under University of California policy against assistant coach, Yann Hufnagel,” the school’s statement says.
"Effective immediately, Hufnagel has been relieved of his duties pending the outcome of the termination process and will not be traveling with the team during its NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament run. The actions follow a finding, issued today by UC Berkeley’s Office of the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD) that Hufnagel violated the University’s sexual harassment policy.”
Hufnagel was investigated for months and head coach Cuonzo Martin fired him Monday morning after receiving a completed report from UC Berkeley’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment, the Chronicle reported.
From the Chronicle:
University investigators concluded after a months-long probe that Yann Hufnagel, who joined head coach Cuonzo Martin’s staff two years ago, had violated UC Berkeley’s anti-sexual harassment policy, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Details of the allegations have yet to be released.
Martin, whose team opens the NCAA Tournament on Friday as the highest seed in school history, fired Hufnagel after receiving the report from the Office for the Prevention of Harassment.
Hufnagel responded to his firing on Twitter.
Hufnagel also told ESPN that no harassment occurred.
"I'm crushed," Hufnagel said. "I can't believe it. I'm blindsided. I never imagined this would be the outcome. Cal has been incredibly slow-moving in the process. I'm in the process of hiring a legal team to exonerate my name."
ESPN reported that the allegations of harassment "came from a female reporter."
Hufnagel, 33, was nearing the end of his second season with the Bears. He was hired in 2014 after Martin left Tennessee to take the job at Cal. Hufnagel is known as a strong recruiter and he helped Cal land five-star prospects Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb in its 2015 recruiting class. He previously had stints as an assistant at Vanderbilt and Harvard.
Brown (15.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) and Rabb (12.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) played a big role in Cal's return to the NCAA tournament. The Bears are currently 23-10 and have a No. 4 seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. The Bears will take on No. 13 seed Hawaii on Friday in Spokane, Washington.
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