‘It’s abusive.’: Players detail toxic culture within Cal Poly Humboldt basketball

Over the course of the past six months, there have been two different realities of the Cal Poly Humboldt men’s basketball team.

The external reality, in full public view, was the picture of a team with immense talent recruited by an upstart head coach trying to revitalize a struggling basketball program. That team in many ways failed to live up to their potential on the court, finishing the year 13-16 after being eliminated in the first round of the CCAA conference tournament. It presented incremental progress, a step in the right direction. Even as the athletic director departed, it appeared the program would stay the course under its current construction.

In interviews with the Times-Standard, the players of the Humboldt men’s basketball team have presented their picture of the internal reality. In interviews with seven current members of the team (five of which are quoted in this article), they detailed a culture that is a shocking contrast to the facade that existed on the surface of the basketball program, the athletic department and the university at large.

Several of the players that spoke started games for the team this year, dispelling any notion that the grievances were related to playing time. Some of the players that spoke also had more than one year of experience with the program and university, while others were transfers in their first year with the university.

The players spoke on the condition of anonymity due to a fear of retaliation.

“I just had thoughts of committing suicide,” said a member of the team who will only be identified as Player A. “It’s like, who can we go to talk to?”

Multiple players stated their mental health deteriorated over the course of the season, including two players who specifically stated they struggled with thoughts of suicide.

“Because he’s just getting away with murder right now,” Player A continued. “It’s like our backs are against the wall.”

“They see us as just athletes, and they forget we’re people,” said another player, who will be identified as Player B.

“Our coach, our leader,” said Player B. “Is supposed to prepare us for the world, right? Prepare us to be young men. Prepare us to overcome adversity. Teamwork. Leadership skills. Qualities that you need to survive in this world.”

“We’re not getting taught how to be young men,” Player B added. “It’s childish. It’s abusive. It’s mentally fatiguing. And it’s not giving any good qualities for life after basketball.”

The players detailed a culture of abuse that was allegedly allowed to persist under head basketball coach Tae Norwood and the broader administration within Cal Poly Humboldt. In emails from parents reviewed by the Times-Standard, former athletic director Cooper Jones was made aware of the allegations in January, but did not appear to respond. The office of Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson was also made aware of the allegations in subsequent emails.

The allegations are wide-ranging and shocking. The first piece will address accusations that the basketball program’s leadership misled recruits, was verbally abusive to players, violated NCAA rules on practice time, and discouraged players from bringing concerns to the university by using threats of retaliation. It will also detail the way in which the athletic department and university were made aware of the allegations.

When Cal Poly Humboldt was reached for comment on the allegations, Assistant Athletics Director for Strategic Communications Drew Gwerder provided this statement from Cal Poly Humboldt:

“The university takes allegations of misconduct seriously. Some of the issues, if confirmed, are personnel matters, which are handled confidentially.

In addition to looking into allegations of misconduct, the athletics department conducts annual evaluations of each coach to ensure a “positive student-athlete experience.”

The Athletics department has processes to confirm and ensure compliance.

“Students are always able to share concerns with the department administration or with the Faculty Athletics Representative, who serves as a student advocate,” the statement said.

Coach Norwood, university president Tom Jackson and former athletic director Cooper Jones did not specifically respond to questions from the newspaper.

The recruiting pitch

“Honestly, I would say that coach is a fantastic recruiter,” said a team member who will be identified as Player C. “And that’s mostly because he isn’t truthful with how he recruits.”

The disconnect between the recruiting pitch and reality was a recurring theme among players. It also sheds light on how coach Norwood may have been able to assemble a roster with so much talent and pedigree.

“He can definitely get guys where he needs them to go,” added Player C. “He just can’t live up to the promises that he makes in the process.”

Players said they were pitched on a thriving Division II program that had Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities and was run in a manner similar to a professional basketball team.

“We were gonna have money in our pockets. We’re gonna be able to get NIL deals from business in the community,” said Player B. “Obviously, none of those things happened.”

Multiple players echoed those sentiments as being part of the recruiting process with several players stating they had to cover the cost of things like meals and housing. For players that transferred to Humboldt, that stood in stark contrast to their experience at prior universities.

“Three of us had to come out of pocket for our rooms and our meal plan,” said Player A. “That’s something that should never happen. That’s like what we signed on in the scholarship when we got here.”

That experience was just the first of many instances where the players encountered a reality vastly different from the vision they had been pitched during the recruiting process.

‘It’s not a winning environment.’

Early in the season, the misconduct had already reached a tipping point for many players.

“We had collectively had a meeting with the coaches. Discussing everything on how we felt, how he would talk to us, how he conducted practice and everything,” said a player who will be identified as Player D. “(Norwood) said, ‘I don’t care if I hurt y’all feelings. I don’t care what y’all have to say.’ “

Player D continued to explain how another player, who was not interviewed for this article, was the subject of alleged ridicule by coach Norwood.

“You can see he was like struggling,” said Player D. “(Norwood) went off on him. It was like, ‘If you have another mental health breakdown or something I’m not gonna play you.’ And like, you can’t just threaten people.”

“He (Norwood) said ‘if you have another mental health breakdown, I’ll kick you off the team,’ ” Player D continued. “You just can’t say certain stuff to certain people because you don’t know what triggers them.”

The alleged ridicule of that player in particular also stuck out to Player A. In a separate interview, the issue of the treatment of that individual was also brought up.

“In the beginning of the season, he (Norwood) used to just pick on him cause this guy that I’m talking about would cry real tears, like that’s just him,” said Player A. “(Norwood) would pick on him and then look at us and laugh. He’s basically bullying him like, ‘Look at this guy, look at him crying.’ And that is just an example of how bad of a person that he (Norwood) is.”

The culture of ridicule and fear also extended to the coaching staff.

“It seems like the assistant coaches are scared of him,” said Player C. “It seems like they need permission to talk.”

Player C noted how one assistant’s voice would be shaky while he asked coach Norwood a question.

“I just don’t think that should be how you conduct yourself,” he said. “It’s not a winning environment.”

The extremes went beyond verbal abuse. Nearly every player reiterated that the team practices excessively, in violation of NCAA rules. The NCAA Division II Essential Rules Reference Guide explicitly states that, “A student-athlete’s participation in countable athletically related activities shall be limited to a maximum of four hours per day and 20 hours per week during the playing season.”

Players detailed a schedule that would begin with workouts at 7:30 a.m. (if not earlier) and continue until 10:30 a.m. in the morning. Then, players said they would return for practice that would begin at 6 p.m. and would last until at least 9 p.m. in the evening. Oftentimes, players said, practice would go later than that. That accounts for at least six hours per day. Weekly limits could depend on a given schedule for the week.

The instances of misconduct were so constant, the players said, the ones recounted in the interview were only the tip of the ice berg.

“There’s so many that we’re forgetting some of them,” said Player C. “It’s so extreme it sounds like we’re lying but we’re not.”

Some of the most extreme examples of misconduct will be covered in future articles.

Another member of the team, who will be identified as Player E, detailed multiple instances of alleged abuse and retaliation. Player E also said he deals with mental health issues as a result of his experience on the team.

“I can appreciate constructive criticism and negative reinforcement,” said Player E. “It’s not that. It’s just him kind of abusing us and me personally.”

Player E, along with other players, recounted a shocking instance that allegedly occurred during halftime of a game against Cal State San Marcos.

“He (Norwood) was saying at the halftime of the San Marcos game, that if anyone had some mental health issues he would kick us off the team,” said Player E. “At that time, I was having like extreme mental health issues. I didn’t tell anybody about it. But I didn’t want to seek any help about it because I was afraid of getting kicked off the team.”

This player was reluctant to lose his scholarship and throw his future into a state of uncertainty.

“It got to a point where it was so bad, I was actually thinking about hurting myself,” said Player E. “I was like too embarrassed to tell anyone.”

Fortunately, the player reached out to a therapist and got the support he needed.

“The whole process of getting (a therapist), I was telling everyone like ‘yo, don’t tell my coach’” he added. “I shouldn’t have to feel that way about trying to take care of my mental health.”

Administrative inaction

It is unclear when exactly the administration of the athletic department or the broader university was first made aware of the issues within the basketball program. Players who had previously been on the team during the 2021-2022 season stated that they had alluded to the issues in their season-ending written reviews of coaches.

What is clear from emails reviewed by the Times-Standard is that former athletic director Cooper Jones was informed in late-January of misconduct within the basketball program. That email, from a parent, raised concerns about mental health issues and the risk of suicide among players due to the culture of abuse within the basketball team.

Just days later, Humboldt hosted their “Dam Worth It” game, which was meant to bolster mental health awareness for athletes.

Separately, a different parent had emailed Mr. Jones about their concerns in February. Yet another parent, whose son was not interviewed for the article, stated in an interview that they had been in touch with the university over the phone and still had no clarification on what would be done over the allegations of abuse. Based on reviews of the emails, there did not ever appear to be a concrete response as to how the issues would be dealt with. Those same emails were forwarded to the office of President Tom Jackson. Emails reviewed by the Times-Standard confirmed a response from the office of the president, but that response had no details on what actions would be taken to investigate or stop the inappropriate conduct.

On Feb. 24, it was announced that Jones had left his position to take the same role at the University of Mary in North Dakota. The University of Mary athletic department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.

‘How much longer is it gonna go on?’

Although all the players who spoke stated they would not continue to play for coach Norwood, perhaps what is more surprising is the players stated they would be willing to continue playing for Cal Poly Humboldt if the necessary changes were made to correct this culture.

“If the university decides to get rid of him (Norwood), then I will 100% stay here,” said Player A. “But at the end of the day, I can’t play for that man. I was on the road to almost committing suicide and I can’t let myself get back to that point.”

“I know a couple of us have said if the university does handle this, we’d be willing to come back,” said Player C. “It seems like maybe they’re gonna handle it, but we have no confirmation really. It’s just kind of empty promises.”

Other players said the reputation of the school and basketball program will only deteriorate further if no action is taken.

“If nothing changes from this university and how this is moving forward, you won’t have a soul playing here,” said Player B. “This is no way a program should be ran and no way young student athletes should be treated.”

“Did it have to come to a point where I took my own life?” said Player E. “For people to realize he’s not fit to be a head coach?”

The question now is what will be done by a university that has so far failed to act.

Jake Matson can be reached at 707-441-0526.