Wisconsin-Green Bay head coach Brian Wardle could be headed down a similar path as former Rutgers coach Mike Rice.
This month, it was reported that parents of two players on the basketball team sent letters to university chancellor Thomas Harden to complain about mistreatment by Wardle, but on Monday, former walk-on Ryan Bross revealed accusations as bad as anything seen on the infamous Rutgers video, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.
Bross, a 7-foot-1 walk-on player (not on scholarship), wanted to earn a human biology degree, but Wardle wouldn’t allow him to take the required classes as a freshman because they might interfere with basketball later in his career. The coach also repeatedly told Bross, who is quite religious, that he should sleep with a girl he liked in order for him to play better, while also hurling gay slurs at the center.
Worst of all, is the allegation that the coach forced Bross to run hill sprints while the player had diarrhea, until Bross lost control of his bowels.
“I got down to the bottom [of the hill] and Wardle told me I was a piece of s— and that he had never seen such a big p—- in his life and that I was the biggest piece of s— he had ever seen,” Bross said.
Bross said at that point, the coach knew he had defecated because he was wearing white shorts.
Afterwards, Bross was given a ride by an assistant coach to get his keys to return to his dorm room, but no one offered him a change of clothes.
“I had to walk through [the Kress Center] in front of 20 people and I had to walk through there and go get my keys and get changed before I could go back to my room,” said Bross. “I felt humiliated. I felt like they didn’t care about me, that there were some 20-some people that saw me, girls, guys, I felt terrible. I felt like I let down the team and everyone down and the coaches kept reminding me and telling me. They told me what a piece of s— I was, that I was terrible.”
Wardle has received the support of parents of other members of the team, including the father of star center Alec Brown, and he also has the backing of the program’s boosters. He has cooperated with the independent investigation, and issued this statement:
“I can assure you the well-being of my players is foremost in my mind at all times,” the coach said. “I cannot comment on the specific allegations under federal privacy laws. I can say the version of events you are reporting is inaccurate. I have fully cooperated with the independent investigator, as have our players and coaches. I fully expect the eyewitnesses to these allegations you are reporting will contradict the version you are reporting.”


