New Mexico State suspends men's basketball program indefinitely over multiple reported hazing incidents
The New Mexico State men's basketball team has had its operations suspended indefinitely, the program announced Friday night.
A statement released by NMSU explicitly states that the decision was based on allegations entirely separate from "the events that took place in Albuquerque," in which forward Mike Peake was reportedly involved in a fatal shooting.
Stadium's Jeff Goodman later reported the new allegations to be multiple players hazing a teammate on more than one occasion, with a police report filed in the preceding 24 hours that triggered the shutdown.
In this case, the entire NMSU coaching staff has been placed on administrative leave while the school investigates the matter, the program confirmed to Yahoo Sports:
New Mexico State University is suspending operations for the men's basketball program until further notice. NMSU personnel were recently informed of new allegations, separate from the events that took place in Albuquerque late last year, involving potential violations of university policy. While those allegations are being investigated, the men's basketball coaching staff has been placed on paid administrative leave. The game scheduled for February 11 against California Baptist will not be played.
The school's board of regents also released a statement supporting the school's decision to suspend the program and investigate the allegations:
The New Mexico State University Board of Regents were informed this evening of the suspension of operations for the men's basketball program. The board supports the action taken by the university leaders and is confident a full and thorough investigation will be conducted.
As of Friday, the New Mexico State team was 9-15 and struggling at 2-10 in Western Athletic Conference play. The school had gone 27-7 and made the NCAA tournament last season under Chris Jans, who left last spring to become head coach at Mississippi State. He was replaced by Greg Heiar, previously the head coach at NW Florida State.
Only two members of last year's team returned for this season, and one of them was Peake. He remains off the court since he was suspended for the shooting, in which he was allegedly lured by four New Mexico students to a residence hall ahead of a rivalry game and attacked. The incident saw one student, 19-year-old Brandon Travis, shoot Peake in the leg, at which point Peake fired back with his own gun and hit Travis four times, killing him.
As of last month, Peake has not been charged with a crime. The whole plan was reportedly retaliation for a fight involving Peake and Travis at a football game between the two schools last year.
