SAN DIEGO –
San Diego State soccer coach Brady Hoke said Monday he was unaware that star punter Matt Araiza had been accused of taking part in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at an off-campus party in October, until the most recent one Civil suit was filed week.
Hoke’s boss, athletic director John David Wicker, defended the school’s decision to comply with a request from the San Diego Police Department to delay a campus-led investigation into the alleged gang rape until authorities complete their criminal investigations. The incident happened on October 17 at a Halloween party at a house where Araiza had lived.
Araiza, nicknamed “Punt God” and honored as a consensus All-American for his booming kicks that helped SDSU to a school-best 12-2 season, was found dead on Saturday, two days after the civil lawsuit with Graphic by The Buffalo Bills cut details were filed against him and former teammates Zaver Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko. Leonard and Ewaliko are no longer on the team, Wicker said.
The school’s decision to join the SDPD drew criticism from rape survivor and public speaker Brenda Tracy, who was brought in by SDSU to speak with the soccer team and other male athletes nearly three weeks after the alleged attack. Tracy said in a statement posted to Twitter Sunday night that she was told by an SDSU worker “there was an incident.”
Tracy added that the more details she learns, “it becomes more and more obvious that SDSU didn’t do the right thing. Institutions should not do without police investigations. Title IX and Criminal Matters may run concurrently. … Even without the victim reporting directly to the school, her father did, and the school could have contacted him. Anonymous tips, including one by name, should have been followed up immediately.”
Wicker confirmed that Tracy had been brought to campus.
“It’s absolutely not true that we swept that under the rug because it was football, because we had a successful season,” Wicker said. “We’re not and I’m not. That calls my morals and ethics into question and that is not true.”
Wicker and Hoke tried to avoid questions about the alleged gang rape at a news conference Monday. They read brief statements and offered to answer questions about Saturday’s game against Arizona, which will open SDSU’s new Snapdragon Stadium. As reporters continued to inquire about the case, Wicker and Hoke walked out.
However, Wicker returned a few minutes later and began answering questions.
“I still firmly believe that letting the SDPD do the investigation was the right way to go,” Wicker told TU.
Wicker said this even included an informal investigation, such as when a coach asks a player if they heard anything.
“The SDPD asked us not to investigate. If we start asking questions, you can give someone a tip and we won’t investigate,” Wicker said.
No arrests have been made and police have not publicly identified any suspects. The results of the police investigation are available to the public prosecutor’s office, but there is no timetable for a decision on whether to bring charges. SDSU said it was cleared by the SDPD on July 22 to launch a campus investigation.
The plaintiff in the lawsuit is now 18 years old. She is identified in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe” because she was a minor at the time.
Attorney Kerry Armstrong, who is representing Araiza in the criminal investigation, dismissed the allegations as untrue based on the findings of an investigator he hired.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Araiza’s name related to the rape allegation appeared in at least one report by student athletes to San Diego State officials through an anonymous reporting system within days of the party.
When asked if he was aware of this anonymous report, Hoke said, “I wasn’t aware of it.”
When asked when he first mentioned Araiza’s name, Wicker said, “We had no confirmation from anyone involved with the event until the civil suit was dropped.”
Meanwhile, the Bills say they’ve moved away from Araiza.
“We’ve already done it. It’s over,” offensive lineman Dion Dawkins said after the Bills returned to practice Monday, two days after the team announced Araiza’s release. “He’s not here. It’s not our problem. Done.”
Dawkins admitted he was troubled by the allegations against Araiza in the lawsuit.
“The thoughts are always coming, but you just have to try to keep your mind clear and not think about things that you can’t really control,” Dawkins said. “Because when you think about all the other messes that’s going on in the world, you’re going to literally fail.”
Ahead of practice, coach Sean McDermott addressed the players about Araiza’s release, which was announced more than two hours after practice ended on Saturday. Team officials, including McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, were first brought to the attention of the allegations when they were told in late July that Araiza was one of several San Diego State players who were the subject of a police investigation.
Araiza was set to become Buffalo’s punter when the team released Matt Haack last week, but the Bills then reversed course. Center Mitch Morse defended the team’s handling of the situation.
“I think they handled it admirably because I don’t envy those situations,” he said. “In the end I think they made the right decision.”
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Wavrov reported from Orchard Park, New York.