Evansville’s Walter McCarty dismissed as head coach amid Title IX investigation

Evansville has dismissed head coach Walter McCarty in the midst of a pending Title IX investigation, the school announced in a press release Tuesday evening.

As the release states, McCarty was placed on administrative leave in December following reports of alleged sexual misconduct and and Title IX violations. Evansville University president Chris Pietruszkiewicz wrote the following in an internal letter to staff at the onset of the investigation:

“The University has received reports of unwelcome conduct by Coach McCarty since his arrival in March 2018. We have counseled him about his behavior. In the last two weeks, the University received a troubling report about Coach McCarty’s interactions with a member of the campus community. We have placed Coach McCarty on leave while that incident is being investigated.”

The dismissal comes just halfway through his McCarty’s second season as head coach of the Aces. Bennie Seltzer, who has been serving as the interim head coach in his absence, will continue to do so.

Evansville is 9-10 on the year with a winless 0-6 record in Missouri Valley play. Its next game is a home game on Wednesday night against Drake.

UPDATE: Just mere hours after dismissing McCarty, Evansville announced that it has named Todd Lickliter as head coach. Lickliter spent time on McCarty’s staff last year before stepping away due to health concerns, and he will take over the role immediately.

This will be Lickliter’s third head coaching gig at the Division I level. At previous stops at Butler and Iowa, he amassed a 169-119 record and two NCAA Tournament appearances.