The lawsuit involving Orlando Bradford is the most recent development in a string of domestic and sexual violence allegations involving University of Arizona student-athletes and coaches spread across multiple sports:
Track and field
In May 2015, track coach Craig Carter was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, threats and intimidation with injury and damage and stalking with fear of physical injury or death upon another, after a student-athlete accused him of threatening her with a box cutter.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the two had a physical relationship, which the athlete says was not consensual.
Carter was released on bail and has since been accused of violating a protective order against another student-athlete. He’s scheduled for trial in March.
Under Arizona law, the state government is required to pay for the defense of an employee being sued for behavior he engaged in while acting within the scope of his job. As of June the state had paid nearly $470,000 for Carter’s defense in the civil suit.
Basketball
In December 2015, UA basketball player Elliott Pitts was accused of rape, but was not charged with a crime.
Campus police questioned the alleged victim when she was half-awake and intoxicated, which prosecutors later said would make it extremely difficult to get a conviction.
In January 2016, the UA issued a finding of sexual misconduct and other student behavioral rules in its Title IX investigation, imposing a one-year suspension from the state university system that went into effect in June 2016.
Although he was allowed to finish the academic year before the suspension began, Pitts left the team and the UA in February 2016.
Golf
In July 2016, a UA golfer was arrested in Phoenix on suspicion of sexual assault. The next day, he was suspended indefinitely from the UA golf team, Star archives show.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined to file charges in the case, after which the team suspension was lifted, said Jeremy Sharpe, a UA athletics spokesman.
The student participated in team activities during the fall semester of 2016, and then left the team.
Football
Last month, freshman Wildcats safety Scottie Young Jr. was arrested on a misdemeanor count of aggravated assault with injury after a witness told UA police she’d seen him shove another student into a wall, grab her wrist and spit on her, UA police documents show.
Young continues to participate in all team activities, a decision UA coach Rich Rodriguez and school administrators reached after consulting “with all the appropriate authorities, including the dean of students,” according to Star archives. Young is scheduled to appear in court next month; the county attorney is weighing whether Young is eligible for a diversion program.
