Binghamton coach Kevin Broadus has filed a racial discrimination suit against the University according to the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin.

Here's a quote from his lawyer.

“No coach in America is placed on leave because of a secondary violation,” said Broadus' attorney Don Jackson with The Sports Group in Montgomery, Alabama. “There is the perception out there right now that he did something wrong of a major nature.”

Broadus, who was named the 2009 America East Coach of the Year, has been on paid suspension since the entire Binghamton program, that he built, went up in flames before the start of this season.

Here's the link.

After the fallout that has taken place at Binghamton over the past week with six men's basketball players being kicked off the team, you almost expected what happened Wednesday to occur.

Athletic Director Joel Thirer resigned on Wednesday.

This all started a week ago, when former Troy High star Emanuel 'Tiki' Mayben was arrested in his hometown on drug charges.

Five more players were then kicked off of the team two days later.

"I am very proud of my 21 years of service to Binghamton University at the opportunities that I've had to provide leadership for intercollegiate athletics and the other programs under my charge," said Thirer in a statement.

Thirer said he'll remain a tenured professor, but Jim Norris, an associate athletic director, will take over as interim athletic director.

Also in that statement, Binghamton President Lois DeFleur said she has directed men's basketball coach Kevin Broadus to provide her with a recruitment and supervision plan for the basketball team.

She added that an external consultant will audit the athletic program to make sure it complies with America East and NCAA policies and procedures.

You have to wonder if winning the school's first America East basketball tournament and advancing to the NCAA Tournament was worth all of this.

According to the Press & Sun Bulletin, Binghamton University has released five more student-athletes from the basketball team in the wake of Troy native Emanuel 'Tiki' Mayben being arrested on Wednesday.

D.J. Rivera, Malik Alvin, Corey Chandler, Paul Crosby and David Fine have all be released from their athletic scholarships by the university.

Rivera was a second team all-conference selection along with Mayben.

This is a huge shakeup to a team that won the America East Conference Tournament last year and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

“It’s important that everyone who is playing for Binghamton University and for me to be on the same page as to what kind of commitment we expect of our student-athletes, both on and off the court,” Binghamton Bearcats Basketball Coach Kevin Broadus said. “There’s only one captain steering this ship, and that’s me. If any of the young men in our program don’t respect the decisions that have been made or the rules we have in place, then they need to move on with their lives."

Broadus received a contract extension through the 2013-14 season back in June and after a lot of turmoil surrounding the program, I wouldn't be surprised if something came down on him.

Here's the link to the Press & Sun story.

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090925/NEWS01/90925035/Huge-shakeup-at-BU--Five-players-released-from-basketball-team&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

ALBANY - The Great Danes' trio of Will Harris, Anthony Raffa and Tim Ambrose combined for 59 of UAlbany's 72 points in Wednesday nights big victory over Binghamton.

At the end of the game this is what UAlbany coach Will Brown said.

"I joked around out there, the (New York) Giants have Earth, Wind and Fire, I guess we have to come up with something for Ambrose, Harris and Raffa," Brown said.

Brown went on to say that he couldn't let Raffa picked the name because he would come up with something like the "Three Paesans."

While the three have been big and I mean big in getting UAlbany out to a 3-1 conference record and 11-6 overall, the program's best start through 17 games, I think we should hold off on the nicknames just for a few more games.

Brown said he was prepared to play 40 minutes of zone basketball, even though he hates it because the Great Danes had to do it to win.

"I can't stand it, but we had to play it," Brown said.

The zone kept the Bearcats out of the lane a lot and forced them to pass the ball around the perimeter.

While Binghamton coach Kevin Broadus didn't necessarily think it was the zone's effectiveness that hurt his team, I think it did give them some issues.

"We were getting lay-ups, we just couldn't make them," Broadus said. "It wasn't the zone that gave us problems, we gave ourselves problems."

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While there was no pushing and shoving, there was some jabs thrown by the fans.

One fan had a sign that read "Broome Country Jail, SUNY Binghamton Annex," which most of the crowd didn't see because that fan was asked to now show it before the game (I believe).

That same fan had another sign that read "Broadus, don't push me too," or something to that affect.

As far as between the two schools, Coach Broadus and Brown exchanged a hand shake before the game and everything was pretty civil between the lines.

"That's a championship caliber team," said Broadus about UAlbany following the game. "Hopefully, it comes down to a third game."

(photo courtesy of SUNY Binghamton)

I had a chance to speak with Emmanuel 'Tiki' Mayben's coach Kevin Broadus today at America East Media Day in Albany.

He seems happy with how Tiki has come in to the program.

“I really, really appreciate that approach that he is taking because he didn’t have to take that approach” Broadus said. “His name alone goes across the country. He could have come in and been a selfish guy, but he’s not.”

Broadus said he first saw Mayben at an AAU tournament, back when Mayben was still at Troy High School.

Broadus says Mayben is doing well so far in the classroom and he has his priorities in line.

“He has to walk away from Binghamton with a degree,” Broadus said.

Tiki made a huge impact last season at Hudson Valley Community College, averaging 15.1 points, 9.5 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game, while the Vikings went 30-1.

The key for him will be staying focused.

You can read more about Mayben in Tuesday's paper, but I'll leave you with one more quote from Broadus.

“I love the Emmanuel that comes to practice smiling,” Broadus said. “That’s when I know he’s going to have a good day. That smile that he has is engaging.”