Report: Dana Altman Phone Records Contradict Oregon Title IX Policy, Statements

University of Oregon head basketball coach Dana Altman reportedly did not disclose contact he made with the school's Title IX coordinator and Kavell Bigby-Williams' former head coach at Gillette College after he found out the transfer forward was under investigation for an alleged sexual assault. 

According to Sports Illustrated's Kenny Jacoby, "Altman's cell phone records, which SI obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the coach was enmeshed in Bigby-Williams’s case from the beginning" after Oregon previously claimed the head coach "was aware police were looking into Bigby-Williams but didn’t know what it was about, and did not know the nature of the allegation." 

In June, Jacoby penned a piece for the Daily Emerald and reported Bigby-Williams "played the 2016-17 men’s basketball season while under criminal investigation for an alleged sexual assault." 

On Thursday, Jacoby followed up and noted Bigby-Williams was being investigated for an alleged forcible rape, although no criminal charges were filed. He has since transferred to LSU. 

While a school spokesman told Jacoby "it is the school's practice not to notify coaches when student-athletes are accused of sexual assault so as not to risk 'tainting investigations,'" Sports Illustrated's findings revealed Altman was in contact with Oregon's deputy Title IX coordinator, Lisa Peterson, and Bigby-Williams' former head coach at Gillette College, Shawn Neary, both of whom had knowledge of the allegations. 

Specifically, Jacoby reported the following: 

"Within hours of learning of the allegation, the deputy Title IX coordinator—who is also a senior associate athletic director—contacted Altman, against the school’s safeguards restricting the athletic department’s involvement. The phone records also illuminate Altman’s repeated attempts apparently to learn more information about a case he was not supposed to be involved in."

Oregon has since denied any wrongdoing as it pertains to Altman and the Title IX office. 

"The information in Coach Altman's phone records in no way contradicts what has been said all along: the university did not, through its Title IX office or others, share information about the Bigby-Williams investigation with the coaching staff," school spokesman Tobin Klinger told Sports Illustrated. 

"Although Coach Altman had phone conversations with the head basketball coach from Wyoming, the primary focus was on whether the Wyoming police at the time had pressed charges and did not cover details of the underlying allegation."