Former Rutgers mens basketball will
be assistant business administrator
By:Sally Goldenberg
The former Rutgers University men’s basketball coach, who was accused of encouraging several students to strip during a free-throw contest and run sprints naked, will replace Donna Schneider as the district’s assistant school business administrator and assistant board secretary.
Kevin Bannon, who was fired from Rutgers after his contract ended in spring of 2001, was hired to take the job while Ms. Schneider assumes another position in the Board of Education business office.
The board approved Mr. Bannon for the position on Monday night, with Wolf Schneider abstaining.
"We are very familiar with the accusation made by some disgruntled athletes and did all of the appropriate legwork to make certain nothing about that event would have any impact on his working in our business office," Superintendent of Schools Robert Gulick said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
According to a published report on www.sportslawnews.com, two former Rutgers players and two former student managers filed a lawsuit against Mr. Bannon in Middlesex County state Superior Court, alleging that they were forced to strip naked during a free-throw shooting contest.
"The suit … charges Bannon and others with sexual harassment for forcing the team and its managers to remove one article of clothing for each missed shot after a December 1997 practice," according to the report.
The case was thrown out of court.
Despite the incident, which received wide media attention, Mr. Bannon was terminated from Rutgers for his 59-60 record as a coach, Assistant Business Administrator and Board Secretary Thomas Venanzi said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
"Their team did not have a very good winning and losing record so that came into play, which is pretty typical when you get into collegiate sports and professional sports," Mr. Venanzi said.
Rutgers University Senior Associate Athletic Director Joe Quinlan confirmed Mr. Venanzi’s statement.
"There were never criminal charges of any type filed. They were allegations. Mainly the reason why he’s not here anymore dealt with … basketball issues," Quinlan said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Dr. Gulick said Mr. Bannon, who is presently an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey and a sports commentator on television, has sufficient business experience to do the job.
"As a Division I basketball coach, there’s a lot of business-related stuff that goes on. He’s run his own camp business," through his coaching job at Rutgers, Dr. Gulick said.

