Ashley Scoggin, who played basketball at Nebraska from 2020 to 2022, accused former Nebraska assistant head coach Chuck Love of using his position and influence to persuade her to have a sexual relationship, according to a civil lawsuit filed Sunday.
The lawsuit lists Love, head coach Amy Williams, athletic director Trev Alberts and the Nebraska School of Regents as defendants. Scoggin is seeking unspecified damages for the alleged violation of her civil rights.
“The university was made aware of the lawsuit this morning,” Nebraska said in a statement Monday. “Although the university does not comment on the specifics of the pending litigation, it disagrees with the allegations contained in the complaint and intends to vigorously defend this matter.”
Scoggin, who now plays at UNLV, blames Williams and Alberts for failing to maintain appropriate boundaries between players and the coaching staff.
According to the lawsuit, Love — who had mentored Scoggin, met with her for individual practice sessions and promised tacit support in her career — began inviting Scoggin for drinks and sending her messages late at night while she was working on an academic internship in the sports department. After accepting one of Love's late-night invitations, Love allegedly kissed her.
The couple began a sexual relationship and Scoggin said in the lawsuit that she was afraid to report Love for fear of Williams' retaliation.
Scoggin’s lawyer, Maren Lynn Chaloupka, told The Athletic: “There are some very simple leadership principles here.
“A responsible coach should not have sex with the student he is coaching. A Division I head coach shouldn't have to be told that such a relationship is an abuse of power. And student-athletes should know that they will be protected and not punished if a coach takes advantage of them.”
Love, the lawsuit says, gave Scoggin the idea that he could “make or break” her in terms of her place on the team and her future.
Scoggin, who claims Love called her to his hotel room for sex when the team traveled to away games, later stated that she felt she was given less playing time during games after she refused to take part in one Group sex session with love to participate in an unknown second man.
In February 2022, the lawsuit says team members caught and filmed Scoggin in Love's hotel room in State College, Pennsylvania, after a practice player tricked a hotel employee into giving him Love's room key. After showing Williams the video recording, the lawsuit says the coach took no steps to protect Scoggin's confidentiality and “did not take any steps to meaningfully investigate whether what had been reported to her The result of an abuse of power, ethics and status by Love.”
According to the lawsuit, Williams called a team meeting the next day and invited team members to question Scoggin and Love, with the coach allegedly encouraging team members to yell, cry and say profanities to Scoggin. Both Scoggin and Love denied anything inappropriate at the time, and Scoggin argues in the lawsuit that she cannot admit “the truth of what happened” as long as Love stands by her.
Williams suspended Scoggin after the incident, while Love was suspended with pay. In a meeting with a member of the Nebraska athletic department, Scoggin stated that she was not informed of her rights under Title IX. Later that day, Williams met with Scoggin to confirm that she had been removed from the team.
After talking it over with her parents, Scoggin and her parents met with Alberts, Williams and other athletic department officials. There, the lawsuit alleges that Alberts did not redirect or correct Williams, nor did the athletic director acknowledge “that coaches are not permitted to engage in sexual relationships with student-athletes,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, Love remained on paid suspension for the remainder of the semester and Alberts did not order an investigation into the situation. Love remained on the university's payroll until his resignation on May 13, 2022.
(Photo: Joseph Cress / Iowa City Press-Citizen via Imagn Content Services, LLC)