Baylor defensive end Sam Ukwuachu was found guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting a former Baylor soccer player in October 2013. Bears head coach Art Briles told reporters this week that he was unaware of Ukwuachu’s history of violence. Chris Petersen, who coached Ukwuachu at Boise State before he transferred to Baylor, says Briles is a liar.
In a statement to ESPN.com on Friday, Petersen said he had a phone call with Briles in 2013 shortly after Ukwuachu was dismissed from Boise State.
“After Sam Ukwuachu was dismissed from the Boise State football program and expressed an interest in transferring to Baylor, I initiated a call with coach Art Briles,” Petersen said. “In that conversation, I thoroughly apprised Coach Briles of the circumstances surrounding Sam’s disciplinary record and dismissal.”
Briles denied having any knowledge of the sexual assault allegation. He said the only thing Petersen mentioned to him in that phone call is that Ukwuachu — who is from Texas — was going through a tough time and needed to come “home.”
“No mention of anything beyond Sam being depressed and needing to come home,” Briles said. “So that was our information. And that’s what you go by.”
Ukwuachu had been suspended and never played a game at Baylor. In addition to a former Baylor soccer player saying she was raped, a former girlfriend of Ukwuachu’s also testified during the trial and claimed Ukwuachu punched her, choked her and physically assaulted her on numerous occasions. Ukwuachu was dismissed from the Boise State football program in 2013 for an unspecified violation of team rules.
“Nobody is going to do that — bring somebody in with a prior conviction or really an allegation,” Briles said. “Like I said, we made our decision on the knowledge we had two years ago.”
It’s hard to believe that Briles had no knowledge of what was going on, especially given the severity of the crime. If he or anyone else at Baylor knew about the allegations and ignored them, that’s obviously a major issue.
Photo: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
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