UNL files defense in response to Scoggin lawsuit

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and basketball coach Amy Williams asked a federal court judge to dismiss a Title IX lawsuit filed by former player Ashley Scoggin. The request came in filings with the court on Friday.

In February Scoggin filed a lawsuit claiming the university acted in violation of federal guidelines when addressing a purported sexual relationship between the player and former assistant coach Chuck Love.

In her original complaint Scoggin, an accomplished guard playing in the 2021 season, accused Love of “grooming and initiating a sexual relationship.” Love was suspended by the Athletic Department and later resigned his position. In his filing with the court he denied the relationship was sexual.

In a separate answer, attorneys for UNL wrote that because administrators “lack firsthand knowledge of the allegations” of the relationship described by Scoggin, they “therefore deny same.”

Scoggin describes in her court filings an evening when team members traveled to Pennsylvania for an away game.  She claims a group brandishing a video camera barged into Love’s hotel room where they confronted Scoggin and the assistant about the relationship. She claims the recording was shared with Coach Williams.

The complaint goes on to claim Williams called a team meeting where the coach “invited the team members to interrogate both Ashley and Love.” She describes being “assailed” by teammates “screaming, crying, and using profanity.”

In Friday’s court filing the University denies the coach knew about the hotel confrontation.

Scoggin states Williams and the university should have been aware of Love’s alleged inappropriate behavior and moved to protect the student, as required under Title IX guidelines. Instead, she claims, knowledge of the relationship and a confrontation with her teammates resulted in her being cut from the team mid-season.

At a time when Scoggin and Love were denying any romance, the Athletic Department maintains it was Scoggin’s dishonesty and a loss of trust with her teammates that led Williams to cut the player.

The court filings claim Scoggin “admitted to violating University rules and policies” and as her “dishonesty and the distrust between Plaintiff and her teammates” which “warranted her removal as active member of the Team.”

UNL maintains the Athletic Department acted in good faith, while providing Scoggin access to information on how to respond to concerns about inappropriate sexual contact.

Scoggin, in her complaint, argues the University was “motivated to avoid scandal and embarrassment to the Cornhusker women’s basketball program, instead of being motivated to protect its student-athlete.” She seeks unspecified damages against the University, Love, Williams, and former athletic director Trev Alberts.