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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2021
VOLUME 116 ISSUE 13
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Emails show Stricklin acknowledged Newbauer’s abuse MOTHER OF FORMER PLAYER COREY STAPLES SHARED CONCERNS ABOUT PROGRAM’S TOXIC ENVIRONMENT IN 2019
By Zachary Huber Sports Writer
A Florida women’s basketball player once wondered if she should slam the ball down in the middle of a game, walk off the court, turn to head coach Cam Newbauer and say: No more. That player ran through the scenario with B.B. Staples, the mother of former Gators player Corey Staples. Would that get Athletic Director Scott Stricklin’s attention? “My response was, I have no idea,” B.B Staples wrote in an email to Stricklin. “Because truthfully at this point I don’t know what it is going to take for you to truly consider this as something real and dangerous.” Staples sent five emails to Stricklin and Executive Associate Athletics Director Lynda Tealer between January and March 2019 about the toxic culture within the women’s basketball program. Her daughter played for Florida through the 20172019 seasons. Several former players detailed a toxic environment under Newbauer, which included verbal abuse, racist comments and throwing basketballs at players. Stricklin took responsibility for Newbauer’s behavior a day after The Alligator’s Sept. 27 report. In the statement, Stricklin said he received reports about Newbauer’s behavior during his first two seasons. He said the reports stopped
after UF responded by “putting more structure” around the coach. The reports did not come to a halt, however. Newbauer hasn’t responded to seven requests for comment through phone calls, texts and voicemails. University Athletic Association spokesperson Steve McClain forwarded statements Stricklin made Sept. 27 and 28. “I no longer can watch and sit silent because if something happens to ANY of these girls the blood will be on my hands and that makes me no better than the other adults that watch out of fear,” B.B. wrote in the first email, sent Jan. 1, 2019. She asked Stricklin to protect the student-athletes from the toxic environment and compared the situation to domestic violence. Newbauer scolded her daughter for not standing and cheering on the team. Corey had torn her left ACL Oct. 3, 2017, the first day of practice. He told Corey, who was a preferred walk-on, that he brought her on to change the culture and threatened to kick her off the team. “Excuse me!!! What? She was in pain,” B.B. wrote. “She was depressed, she lost 15 pounds and she wasn’t cheering enough for him?” She wrote that Newbauer told the team he was untouchable. She likened the situation to that of Maryland football coach D.J. Durkin, who was in charge when offensive lineman Jordan McNair died following a heat stroke during football workouts. Corey qualified for a medical redshirt year, and Florida listed her on the official roster as a redshirt junior in the 2018-2019 season. But Newbauer didn’t. He told
SPORTS/SPECIAL/CUTOUT Mike White finally surpasses Seminoles
Story description finish with comma, pg# Florida men’s basketball took down the No. 20 Seminoles for its first ranked win of the season, pg. 11
SEE NEWBAUER, PAGE 4
Samantha Harrison // Alligator Staff
Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, photographed during Florida’s football game against Alabama on Sept. 18, received several emails from a player’s mother further detailing the abuse of women’s basketball coach Cameron Newbauer early in 2019.
UF sophomore details sexual assault at Reitz Union Man publicly masturbated in front of her By Isabella Douglas Alligator Staff Writer
Out of all the empty seats at the Reitz Union food court, he decided to sit at the table across from her. The sophomore smiled back cautiously as she has countless times at strangers who make small pleasantries. But she knew something wasn’t right. Peering across the room, she noticed the seating arrangement she had so carefully chosen when
she entered the Reitz Union Oct. 23 at 3:30 p.m. The booth faces Pollo Tropical, but the walls hug it, making it the perfect semihidden study space. “He smiled at me. He made eye contact,” the 19-year-old female sociology UF sophomore said. “He kept checking around the corner.” At around 5:50 p.m., the man sat down and repositioned his chair so that he was directly diagonal to her in the corner table. Her stomach dropped, and
Low voter turnout
her smile faded. “When I did look over he was jerking himself off,” she said. “I really didn’t know what to do.” She realized she had two choices: wait until he left or see if he chooses to lunge at her when trying to leave. She knew she could make enough noise to alert others in the food court if it happened. “Worst comes to worst, he would grab me and potentially sexually assault me,” she said. Her saving grace arrived in the form of another student.
SEE REITZ ASSAULT, PAGE 4
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Gainesville looks to ramp up voting, pg. 5
Academic freedom
Students, faculty protested amid UF controversy, pg. 6
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