Former Aggie player, others, file suit

As this year’s New Mexico State University men’s basketball team was in Lexington, Kentucky, Nov. 6, preparing for its season-opening game, another lawsuit was filed in Las Cruces against last year’s men’s basketball team.

The civil suit, with two former players and a student manager as plaintiffs, portrays a pervasive culture of gun possession (disallowed on campus) among other players even after a Nov. 19, 2022, shooting in Albuquerque involving Aggie player Mike Peake.

Former player Kyle Feit, a guard originally from Boca Raton, Florida, who transferred to NMSU from Arizona State, decided to include his name because, according to the lawsuit, “his interest in speaking out and holding all of the defendants accountable outweighs his desire to protect his personal privacy interests.” The other two plaintiffs are unnamed, and referred to as John Doe I, a former player, and John Doe II, a student manager, in the lawsuit.

The named defendants of the suit are the Board of Regents of NMSU, current NMSU athletic director Mario Moccia, former NMSU head basketball coach Greg Heiar, former NMSU assistant coach Dominique Taylor, and former players Kim Aiken Jr., Doctor Bradley and Deshawndre Washington.

Except for Moccia, those were the named defendants in an April 2023 civil suit alleging sexual harassment, hazing and assault against teammates. That suit was filed with former players Deuce Benjamin and Shakiru Odunewu, and Benjamin’s father, William Benjamin as plaintiffs. NMSU settled that lawsuit, agreeing to pay $8 million to the plaintiffs.

A few days after Deuce Benjamin reported his accusations to NMSU police, Feb 10, 2023, Moccia and then-NMSU chancellor fired Heiar and shut down the basketball season with a handful of games left.

The lawsuit says Feit was “deeply impacted by the presence of guns in the locker room and on campus. During his time at NMSU, he saw guns in the locker room and guns carried by some of his fellow players, including Deshawndre Washington.” The suit cites three incidents where a gun was pulled on him from inside cars, after practice, but he could not identify the people pulling the gun.

The plaintiff John Doe II “also saw guns in the locker room, which concerned him and made him uncomfortable. He saw Washington with his gun out, pointing it around. He had heard stories about Washington’s history with guns in Chicago.”

Feit, John Doe I and John Doe II all described in the lawsuit occasions where they were sexually assaulted, and witnessed others being sexually assaulted.

“From (John Doe II’s) vantage point, the atmosphere was very different during the two seasons when he was student manager,” the lawsuit says. “Coach (Chris) Jans had exercised far more control over the team than he saw when Coach Heiar took over. He describes the way the team acted on the two successive seasons as being like night and day.”

No response was given by Moccia or NMSU spokesperson Justin Bannister, who said the school does not comment on pending litigation.