Charleston, ex-coach reach $400,000 settlement

PETE IACOBELLI
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Fired College of Charleston coach Doug Wojcik had been paid $400,000 to settle potential claims against the school.

The school released financial terms of the settlement to The Associated Press on Tuesday after an open records request. Wojcik was fired last month amid allegations of verbal abuse. The school hired longtime Wichita State and Clemson assistant Earl Grant two weeks ago.

The school will assume $150,000 of the settlement with the rest coming from the state’s Insurance Reserve Fund.

As part of agreement, Wojcik agreed not to sue the College of Charleston.

The school and Wojcik included a joint statement in the settlement terms that said they would have no additional comments on this matter.

“The matter has been resolved and it’s good for everyone involved that we’ve come to a resolution,” Bland said.

Wojcik had spent two years with the Cougars. He had three years remaining on a deal that would’ve totaled about $1.2 million over the length of the contract.

Earlier this year, the school completed a 50-page report that contained summaries of interviews with Wojcik and 26 others — including 10 anonymous players and five anonymous employees — who are current and former players and assistant coaches, college staffers and athletic director Joe Hull.

The report’s conclusion found it “likely” that Wojcik was verbally abusive with players, assistant coaches and staffers at the school.

Wojcik, 50, said in the report he was shocked by the allegations and has not had players complain about his treatment.

Wojcik’s attorney, Scott Tompsett, had said at the time of his firing that the coach was “sincerely remorseful and apologizes publicly to those he hurt emotionally or offended. He is a better person because of this experience and he’ll be a better coach.”

College of Charleston players issued a statement last month forgiving Wojcik for any offenses.

Cougars guard Anthony Stitt said the players don’t hold anything against Wojcik, but wanted to move in a different direction.

Wojcik came over from Tulsa two years ago. He led the Cougars to the Southern Conference tournament finals in his first year, but fell to 14-18 this past winter in College of Charleston’s first in the Colonial Athletic Conference.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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