From the Indy Star’s Mark Alesia :
Ball State University publicly apologized to former men’s basketball coach Ronny Thompson (above) today and announced the resignation of an athletic department employee who investigated alleged NCAA violations.
In a statement, the school said, “Ball State wishes to extend its sincere apology for the unprofessional and unauthorized behavior of its employees that led to (Thompson’s) resignation” and for “the unwarranted negative effect on his reputation.”
Thompson resigned in July after one season, alleging that he was subjected to a “racially hostile work environment.” Twice during Thompson’s tenure, the school self-reported NCAA violations.
The statement didn’t name the employee who resigned or detail the “unprofessional and unauthorized behavior.” But it said the behavior was not racially motivated. An investigation by former Indiana Supreme Court justice Myra Selby did, however, find “isolated incidents of racially hostile or insensitive behaviors on the part of a few athletic department employees.”
Thompson resigned in July following a 9-22 campaign, his lone season as Cardinals head coach. Following his departure, he was characterized by Jason Whitlock as “too immature, too soft and too arrogant to deal with working in a poorly run, dysfunctional athletic department.”