Greg Heiar controversy, explained: Why NMSU fired coach, canceled season amid alleged hazing, shooting scandals
Warning: The following article details allegations related to sexual assault, bullying, and gun violence.
The state of New Mexico on Tuesday announced the firing of freshman basketball coach Greg Heiar after he was hired to the position on March 27, 2022. He was in office for less than a year.
Heiar’s firing comes after the university canceled the remainder of the 2022-23 men’s basketball season Sunday and placed the basketball coach and his entire coaching staff on paid administrative leave. NMSU Chancellor Dan Arvizu previously suspended team operations as part of an investigation into an alleged bullying incident involving members of the team.
The Aggies will finish the 2022-23 season with a 9-15 record (2-16 in Western Athletic Conference play). The remainder of their schedule is counted as forfeited. They will not participate in the WAC tournament, which they have won nine times since 2010.
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Said Chancellor Arvizu of Heiar’s dismissal:
As I have said before, bullying has no place on our campus and those responsible will be held accountable for their actions. I am committed to the safety and well-being of all members of our campus community, as well as the integrity of our university.
Through a full review and full investigation, we will work to ensure that we fully understand what happened here and that those responsible are held accountable. We will also ensure support systems are in place to prevent this from happening again.
Any further decisions regarding the rest of the coaching staff will be made upon completion of additional investigations.
With this, The Sporting News breaks up the myriad incidents that took place under Heiar’s supervision that ultimately led to his release from Las Cruces, NM
Why did the state of New Mexico fire Greg Heiar?
The primary reason for Heiar’s dismissal is the alleged constant harassment involving members of the New Mexico State basketball team.
According to a prosecutor’s police report made available to multiple news outlets, three of the prosecutor’s teammates have been subpoenaed on false imprisonment, harassment and criminal sexual contact charges in a Feb. 6 bullying incident. All player names have been redacted.
The report details how the teammates allegedly held the accuser down and “removed his clothes to expose his buttocks and began punching him” while allegedly also touching his scrotum. The report adds other alleged incidents of unwanted sexual touching that occurred in July and August 2022, both in the team’s dressing room and while travelling.
The report shows that the prosecutor did not want to press charges at the time. Regardless, the filing of the report prompted Arvizu to launch a university investigation into the basketball team. At the same time, NMSU placed Heiar and his staff on paid administrative leave and suspended team activities.
Two days later, the state of New Mexico canceled the remainder of the basketball season. Two days later, the Aggies fired Heiar.
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Mike Peake shoots
Another factor in Heiar’s firing is the shooting of 19-year-old University of New Mexico student Brandon Travis on Nov. 19, 2022 — one that involved junior forward Mike Peake.
According to a New Mexico State Police statement the following day, four New Mexico students lured Peake to the Albuquerque campus in the early hours before a basketball game between the two teams. More details released via ESPN suggest the students – Travis, two of his friends and a 17-year-old woman – attacked him with bats when Peake arrived.
This led to a shootout between Peake and Travis, with Peake fatally shooting the latter. The release by New Mexico state police called Peake – who was also shot at the scene – a victim who acted in self-defense.
“Through investigation, agents later learned that Travis conspired with a 17-year-old woman and two of Travis’s male friends, all UNM students, to lure the 21-year-old victim to the UNM campus and assault him.” of New Mexico said the state police statement.
Peake was transported to a local hospital and was in stable condition shortly after the incident.
Peake was not listed as a suspect at the time. Heiar still ordered his team to leave Albuquerque, NM, and return to NMSU’s Las Cruces campus on the team bus, despite police requests to interview three of Peake’s teammates — Marchelus Avery, Issa Muhammad and Anthony Roy — when they looked for the firearm and others for evidence.
A report from ESPN on December 9, 2022 indicates that Avery, Muhammad and Roy were seen on video in a yellow Camaro in the same parking lot where Travis was shot. Police claimed Peake, who was eventually suspended from the team when police investigated the shooting, placed his gun, phone and tablet in the car.
Heiar reportedly responded to the police request by saying he first had to make sure his players didn’t need a lawyer first. A state police officer later noticed that the team boarded a bus at a hotel; Because his calls to Heiar’s phone went straight to voicemail, police eventually had to locate the bus at a rest stop on a nearby freeway.
Police eventually found Peake’s tablet on the bus in a backpack belonging to Lorenzo Jenkins, who is listed as Heiar’s special assistant. Peake’s phone was later found in Las Cruces owned by an unnamed administrator. The gun used in the shooting was found at the hotel wrapped in a towel, but only after assistant coach Dominique Taylor told police that Heiar had told him the three players knew where the gun was.
The ESPN report states that it was unknown at the time how the phone, gun and tablet were moved in the hours immediately following the shooting.
Greg Heiar Salary
According to an August report by Las Cruces Sun News (NM), the school guaranteed Heiar $300,000 a year salary for five years. This reflected a base salary that was $10,000 more per year than former coach Chris Jans, who left the program to coach Mississippi State and under whom Heiar once coached as an assistant.
New Mexico State hired Heiar from Northwest Florida State, where he led the Raiders to the 2021-22 junior college national championship, third in the school’s history.