Former SUNY Brockport wrestling coach Don Murray has lost his appeal claiming he was maligned by the NCAA in an investigation that led to his departure.
Murray sued the National Collegiate Athletic Association back in 2022 after being suspended then temporarily banned from coaching.
He claimed a shoddy investigation into alleged violations of team practice rules had effectively ended his decorated, 50-year coaching career. Murray won five national titles and coached dozens of All-Americans before abruptly retiring in 2021.
A state judge dismissed the case in August 2023, ruling that "the facts do not support a finding that Murray’s allegations have a substantial basis in law, just as they do not support a finding that the NCAA acted with actual malice.”
Rather, the NCAA findings were agreed to by SUNY and “derived from interviews (with) over 20 student athletes and members of the SUNY Brockport athletic staff.” Among the findings: Murray allegedly encouraged incoming freshman to enroll in one of the two physical education classes he taught – 89% of his classes were made up of members of the men’s wrestling team – then used those classes “to acclimate incoming student-athletes into his program prior to the start of the wrestling season,” according to NCAA findings.
Murray appealed the 2023 dismissal, and that appeal was dismissed this week “upon the ground that no substantial constitutional question is directly involved,” according to a decisions list published Tuesday by the state Court of Appeals.
