Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun denies sex bias claims

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Hall of Fame basketball coach Jim Calhoun is denying allegations of sexual discrimination made by a former associate athletic director at the University of Saint Joseph, the Division III school where he now works.

Calhoun says in a statement released Saturday by the school that he never "knowingly treated any woman unfairly because of her gender" and he fully supports women's rights and equality.

Jaclyn Piscitelli sued the Catholic school in West Hartford in federal court Wednesday. She alleges she was fired after complaining about the conduct of men in the athletic department, including the 77-year-old Calhoun, who coaches the school's men's basketball team.

She alleges the former UConn coach once called her "hot" and forced her to clean up coffee grounds he spilled, among other things.

Diana Sousa, a school spokeswomen, has said the university doesn't comment on pending litigation but that it "takes compliance with all matters relating to Title IX very seriously."

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25