Marlin Chinn has been suspended as basketball coach at Florida International University after the team's captain claimed he pursued her for a sexual relationship, reported the
Miami Herald.
The athletic department held a mandatory meeting on Tuesday to discuss sexual harassment and coach-player relations, a source told the Herald, and Chinn did not attend.
"FIU is conducting an investigation into allegations made against Coach Marlin Chinn," said a statement posted on the
university's Facebook page on Tuesday. "Based on the allegations, the university has suspended Coach Chinn, pending the outcome of the investigation. Because this is an ongoing investigation, the university will not provide additional comments at this time."
Chinn is in his first year as head coach,
Team captain Destini Feagin told Florida International's athletics administration about the coach's advances and filed an NCAA complaint, said the Herald. She claimed that Chinn suspended her for four games for rejecting his advances, reported
WTVJ-TV.
Feagin also admitted to accepting a $600 loan from Chinn in December, said the Herald, something she said she did not know was an NCAA violation.
A guard from Philadelphia, Feagin has started 16 of 24 games for Florida International this season, averaging 8.6 points and six rebounds per game. Team had a 4-23 record before its game at Alabama-Birmingham on Thursday.
Feagin told the Herald she sent an e-mail to the NCAA after a series of alleged incidents and conversations where Chinn supposedly made comments about her and then expressed a desire to have a relationship with her. Her teammate, Jade Cheek, sent Feagin an email for her to use in her NCAA complaint to back up her allegations.
Before Chinn came to Florida International, he was an assistant coach for six seasons at the University of Maryland, helping that team to a 34-3 record in 2015, a Big Ten championship and an appearance in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, according to
Chinn's FIYU biography.
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