Morehead State coach Sean Woods was charged with battery on Tuesday for allegedly striking two of his players. The incident happened during a Nov. 19 game at Evansville, when Woods allegedly backhanded sophomore guard Malik Maitland in the chest and shoved junior forward Soufiyane Diakite twice.
Morehead State coach charged with battery after accusations of player assault
The father of one player is asking for Sean Woods’ dismissal.
Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Woods resigned on Thursday, per Jon Rothstein of CBS.
Woods was suspended by the team shortly after the incident and the school was investigating the situation on its own before finalizing discipline. This isn’t Woods’ first allegation of abusing players and it had the father of one player asking for his dismissal.
Maitland’s father said Woods headbutted his son last year.
“Not only did we ask him to coach our son, but to treat our son just as he would treat his own son,” the senior Maitland told ESPN. “He was reckless with willful intention in his action toward my son, inflicting such a pain on him.”
Woods was also suspended in 2012 for shoving former player Devon Atkinson during a game against Kentucky.
As a player in the early ‘90s, Woods was a member of Kentucky’s “Unforgettables” squad that went to the Elite Eight in 1992. This is his fifth season as coach at Morehead State after taking over for Donnie Tyndall.
The Eagles finished 23-14 last year but have never made the NCAA tournament under his watch.
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