Three former University of San Francisco baseball players filed Friday a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court against Nino Giarratano, longtime head coach, and Troy Nakamura, former associate head coach, for creating an intolerant sexualized environment in the program.
The lawsuit was filed in San Francisco, California. It also named USF, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, as defendants. They claim that the school knew about the inappropriate conduct of coaches and that the NCAA failed to enforce any rules against sexual harassment and retaliation.
According to the 113 page lawsuit, the coaches’ behavior caused several players to leave USF and join the NCAAs transfer portal. One former Dons player wrote on social media that his thoughts were of suicide.
USF announced January 13 that Nakamura was no longer associated with the program following a human resource investigation into incidents where the language, behavior, and/or actions of the coaches were inappropriate. Giarratano, who was in his 24th year at the school, was officially reprimanded, but he retained his job.
John Doe 1, John Doe 2 & John Doe 3 were all named as plaintiffs in this lawsuit. They spoke to The Chronicle on condition of anonymity. They described an atmosphere where Nakamura used sexually explicit language in front of the team, flipped one player into handstands and pretended to eat spaghetti from his crotch during a pre-practice skit. Once, he crawled onto the field naked, his penis visible.
According to John Doe 1, Giarratano saw these events and kissed John Doe 1’s cross. He then looked up at Nakamura as he crawled onto the field naked.
John Doe 1, a student taking online classes while applying for mostly Ivy League colleges in hopes of returning to baseball in the fall, met The Chronicle last week in a Southern California Hotel. His parents were sometimes unable to contain their emotions and accused Giarratano, Nakamura, of bullying players who didn’t accept their methods and retaliation.
John Doe 1 said that coaches wanted to make John Doe 1 relinquish his scholarship. He claimed that they did this by continually ridiculing him. John Doe 2 also claimed similar charges in a Zoom interview. He said Giarratano called him repeatedly last summer, and yelled to him for staying at USF. (The player later decided not to leave).
John Doe 1 stated that it was retaliation to us not being involved in their sideshow. It doesn’t feel like we have an outlet to share what’s happening and not be retaliated. These guys (coaches), have so much power, that we feel like the voice of our athletes isn’t important.
If you have any questions, we can help.
To reach a counselor at a local crisis center, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255. They are available 24 hours a days. To reach a crisis counselor, you can text Connect to 74741 at any time.
Nakamura was seen at USFs practice on Wednesday, even though he had been fired nearly two months prior.
John Doe 1 & John Doe 2, respectively, chose to attend USF in 2020 as freshmen because of the culture Giarratano & Nakamura promoted during their recruitment. The players said that the coaches stressed the trust and accountability of the program, and that they formed close bonds with their future teammates when they visited campus.
The players said that this culture quickly changed. John Doe 2 shared a story about a game at Sacramento State last year, in which he and his teammates sat down on chairs along the first-base line due to pandemic restrictions that limited the number of people allowed in the dugout. One time, the player left the game to talk with a teammate and didn’t even watch a few pitches.
Nakamura was at the time coaching third base and he came over after the game had ended. He screamed at John Doe 2 and called him a fing C loud enough for the spectators to hear.
John Doe 2 stated that I was frozen. I was like, Coach said that in front everyone. It was quite bad.
The third player in the lawsuit had a similar encounter several months later in the fall 2021. John Doe 3, a junior high student, said that John Doe 3 was trying to heal from an injury sustained during his senior year in high school. Giarratano’s constant berating of him was frustrating.
John Doe 3 stated in a Zoom interview that Giarratano became increasingly irritated because the player was not performing well on field after his injury. John Doe 3, who was at one point with Giarratano, stated that Giarratano said to him, “I wish more then anything I could hit your forehead as hard as possible with a bat.”
According to the player this occurred during practice and was within earshot of some teammates.
John Doe 3 said that he would not do that because it was illegal. This is my head coach, who holds all the power. I was scared to be near him after that, so at practice I kept my distance.
It was also uncomfortable because of all the things Coach Naks did out on the field. I didn’t want go to practice. I just wanted to get out as quickly as possible.
John Doe 3 stated that he was depressed throughout the fall and rarely left his room. Although he still attends USF, he recently entered the transfer portal, and plans to move to another school in the future.
In interviews, the recurring theme of Fridays lawsuit was Nakamura’s habit of making sexually charged comments in front of the team. In an effort to relax players before practice, he led caf exercises.
Nakamura identified a dinner-style barbecue, luau, and fast-food, then asked the players to bring their own food to this imaginary meal. According to the lawsuit he found a way to make it sexual and encouraged other players to do the exact same.
According to the lawsuit, Nakamura was referring to women’s bodily fluids and body parts that he wanted. According to players who spoke to The Chronicle, he made crude references to actresses Jennifer Aniston, and Pamela Anderson. He also laughed at those who gave normal answers.
John Doe 1 stated that Coach Naks would make these comments and we would roll our eyes. He would see us withdraw from the group or walk out. He could tell that we were feeling uncomfortable and things started to pick back up.
This was more than 30 times in the 2021 fall season, John Doe 2 stated, and Giarratano was present every time.
The skit in which Nakamura allegedly crawled from the dugout on his hands and knees, with his pants around the ankles, stunned the players. John Doe 2 stated that Nakamura was naked and in full view of all players and coaches. He was also within the reach of a dormitory high above the USFs baseball field at midday.
He said that it was quite crazy. Did I just see Coach Naks naked? What caused that? I didn’t know. In most of these cases, he was sexually explicit out of thin air and I didn’t know why.
The Chronicle interviewed players who said that they didn’t notify school officials about the incidents as they feared disrupting team dynamics and getting retaliation by the coaches. After their freshman years, the families of John Doe 1 & 2 contacted Joan McDermott, USF athletic director, in May 2021. They had spoken with their parents numerous times.
McDermott was contacted by the mother of John Doe 1. McDermott received a copy of that email, which The Chronicle reviewed. She also left two voicemail messages. According to the mom, McDermott didn’t respond. John Doe 2’s parents also stated that their attempts to reach McDermott were futile.
John Doe 1s mom said that I knew there was less chance of my son coming back. Within days of all his attempts to reach out, Coach Gs called him and told him to leave the team. He was toxic, and he would never get another chance to play there.
Pre-practice rituals continued amid the drama. John Doe 1 performed a skit with his teammates last fall in which he pretended to knock at the USFs Title IX office to lodge a complaint about Nakamura and then he was taken off in handcuffs.
The Chronicle interviewed two players who said that their teammates found it funny. John Doe 2 recalls that the coaches also laughed at the skit. John Doe 1 did not remember the skit. He described Giarratano’s and Nakamura’s expressions as deer-insights.
It was an Oh s, look, John Doe 1 remarked.
These allegations are made in the lawsuit following a scandal involving USF’s men’s soccer team. Sports Illustrated Publication of a report In September, allegations of sexual misconduct in soccer were made that are deeper than what was revealed by a 2020 investigation.
Friday’s lawsuit also targets NCAA for failing to impose sanctions that would encourage schools to report abuses and deter perpetrators. This is not the first suit to hold the NCAA accountable for coaches misconduct. In 2020, a similar case was brought against John Rembao, a former track and field coach from Arizona and Texas. The NCAA was also named as a defendant in that case.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Rembao worked later at Cal (2007-11), Stanford (2005-07), and UC Santa Cruz (2012)-21.
Rembao’s case remains pending, but the section involving the NCAA has been dropped. Beth Fegan, a Chicago-based attorney who was involved in Rembao and is also representing former USF players, stated that courts have historically absolved the NCAA when former players come forward many years later, due to the statute of limitations.
Fegan stated that the USF case was different because the plaintiffs were student athletes who reported recent misconduct.
She stated that no school is going to hold its coaches accountable or its sports programs responsible for housing serial perpetrators. They will try to sweep it under their rug or get their athletes to transfer. Until the NCAA has rules that make reporting of perpetrators centralized and prevent them moving between schools, there wont be the necessary change to protect student athletes.
Although the NCAA has expanded its policy on sexual violence in 2020, it has largely left enforcement of inappropriate conduct to schools.
According to the lawsuit, multiple players were left suicidal by the USF situation. Tyler Imbach, a player who left USF after one semester, is now at Santa Barbara City College. He publicly expressed his feelings in an article. September Instagram postTo commemorate National Suicide Prevention Month.
Imbach wrote that he has experienced depression and anxiety and thought it was time to end my life. Imbach encouraged people seeking help for mental issues and included the number for a suicide prevention hotline.
Wednesday’s phone interview with Imbach revealed that he had struggled with anxiety and depression since high school, and that his condition was worsened by his four-plus month stint in the Dons baseball team.
Imbach said that the USF incident definitely contributed to my mental health problems. USF was difficult, but I was treated well by the coaching staff. It was a great experience.
He specifically mentioned what he called verbal abuse by Giarratano. Imbach stated that he never saw any of Nakamura’s alleged actions as described in the lawsuit. Imbach was eventually forced to take more than six months off from baseball before he returned to Santa Barbara CC where he is now the happiest he’s been in a while.
This comes at a time when young athletes have become more aware of mental health issues. Recently, Stanford soccer captain Katie Meyer was killed on campus. The Santa Clara County coroner declared Meyer’s death suicide.
John Doe 1 stated that his frustration with USF’s environment never led to him having suicidal thoughts. His anxiety grew in the phone calls with his mom who became increasingly concerned about his mental health.
The mom cried, saying that she was worried that he would do something. It was terrible to have your child call you and be concerned that he might harm himself because of the actions of these coaches.
Ron Kroichick, a San Francisco Chronicle staff reporter, is Ron Kroichick. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ronkroichick