Walking toward the doorway to the athletic offices at Mississippi University for Women in July 2019, a pair of now-former employees ran into Athletic Director Jason Trufant speaking with a third-party vendor.
Offering a “hello” to Trufant and the vendor, the first employee was greeted with a head nod. The second was not.
“Shut the hell up and keep walking,” Trufant said, according to multiple sources who witnessed the incident.
In a five-month investigation, The Dispatch spoke with one current MUW employee, two former student-athletes and six former athletic department employees who described a toxic and bullying culture cultivated by Trufant within the Owls’ athletic department that has been largely ignored by higher-ranking administration.
“It’s like a prison mentality and you have a warden,” former women’s basketball coach Howard White Jr. told The Dispatch. “We used to call it ‘Shawshank.'”
Said another former MUW employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation from Trufant: “On the outside, it looks beautiful. We have beautiful facilities — brand-new volleyball courts, building a new soccer and baseball field, redid the entire softball field — put a lot of money into it.
“But on the inside, it was in shambles,” the former employee continued. “It’s run on fear. It’s run on a dictatorship. It’s his way.”
Trufant, in multiple interviews with The Dispatch, outright denied those allegations and characterizations. He also fended off a university probe of his behavior after a formal complaint was filed in August 2019.
University President Nora Miller reduced the allegations made to The Dispatch to grumblings of disgruntled former employees.
“There are disgruntled former employees who see things through one lens and we can talk things out and try to explain things,” Miller said when The Dispatch spoke Monday with her and Trufant about the allegations. “But if they’re hell-bent on that, of seeing things in that light, that’s the way they’re going to see them.”
Allegations of insensitive remarks
Athletics returned to MUW for the 2017-18 school year after a nearly 14-year hiatus.
The school initially canceled its athletic programs in 2003 due to a tornado that ravaged the campus. MUW is now in its second year of provisional membership in the NCAA’s Division III and is in the process of applying for membership in a conference.
Hired as the athletic director in the spring of 2016, Trufant has overseen the hiring of all MUW coaches since sports returned to the school. In that span, the university has seen at least nine head coaches leave for various reasons among its 15 athletic programs since the 2017-18 school year.
Similar-sized Millsaps and Mississippi College saw less turnover, and even Division I Mississippi State saw only eight replaced over that span.
“We have a vision, and it takes a lot of hard work, and it takes a lot of commitment,” Trufant said when asked why MUW has experienced so much head coaching turnover. “And I’m not saying anybody had a lack of, or whatnot. What I am saying is that we have a vision, and sometimes people want to go in different directions.”
During Trufant’s tenure the MUW women’s basketball team won the United States Collegiate Athletic Association national title in 2019, while the baseball and softball teams reached the USCAA Small College World Series in 2018 and 2019.
But in interviews with The Dispatch, multiple former MUW employees and student-athletes — some who spoke anonymously for fear of retaliation and others who agreed to be identified — allege Trufant made insensitive comments toward coaches and players beginning as early as 2017.
The first alleged instance came in the fall of that year. While attending a softball practice, Trufant noticed a crying player being comforted by a coach. Informed the tears were over a love interest just wanting to be friends, Trufant allegedly retorted, “Well, she’s giving it up for free. Why do they want to pay for it when they can get it for free?” according to a source with direct knowledge of the exchange.
Months later, during the hiring process that brought White onboard as the head women’s basketball coach ahead of the Owls’ inaugural 2018-19 season, a candidate who disclosed they were in a same-sex relationship was passed up for the position despite receiving a glowing review from the hiring committee, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Dispatch.
When asked why that candidate was not selected, Trufant allegedly told a member of the MUW athletic department he had to select a “minority” candidate and noted, “You and I both know you can change your sexuality but you can’t change the color of your skin.”
Trufant characterized both of those claims as “completely false.”
To the allegation regarding the women’s basketball hiring, he added, “I would never say anything like that, and I’m very upset that someone would insinuate that comment.”
Bullying within the coaching ranks
Throughout Trufant’s four-year tenure, multiple sources allege head coaches were mistreated during their time at MUW.
“It was gradual. But once it hit, it hit,” a former MUW employee said of Trufant’s alleged bullying. “And for the different members of the staff, I think it hit at different times.”
In one volatile display, Trufant allegedly berated a sitting head coach in front of a slew of other staffers.
Congregating at the Lowndes County Soccer Complex in July 2019, a group of coaches were putting up a net when Trufant arrived on site.
Standing atop a ladder, one of the coaches aiding the effort was fidgeting with the net to connect it to the goalpost. Irritated at the situation, Trufant reportedly shouted, “(Get off) the ladder, you dumbass. Someone with half a brain get up there and do it,” according to two sources who were there.
“That definitely hasn’t happened,” Trufant said when asked whether he had bullied or directed derogatory remarks toward his staff or student-athletes. “I can tell you that I am a direct person, so when there is an inconsistency in our vision, I will let people know that. But as far as student-athletes or staff, that’s something I can’t comment on to begin with.”
Within the offices, multiple sources also allege Trufant harbored a work environment predicated on fear, including threatening to fire any coach who looked for jobs outside of MUW — a claim Trufant denied.
Two former MUW employees also disclosed to The Dispatch they had to undergo counseling and took leaves of absence from their respective programs due to, at least in part, bullying they attributed to Trufant.
“He doesn’t go after people he sees as an equal, but he’s going to go after the people that he sees he can,” a former MUW employee told The Dispatch. “It’s almost like a high school bully trying to look cool in front of his new friend — that is the best descriptor I know how to give.”
Said a current MUW employee: “There’s a fine line of if you’re going to be a mature athletic director or you’re going to come in here and you’re going to ruin this university with athletics again. And that’s just not OK, because (Trufant) wants to be big man in the house and have all the power.”
In White’s case, he only stayed a year, despite leading his team to a national title in 2019. Part of the reason, he said, was Trufant’s language also allegedly crossed racial lines — something the athletic director also denies.
“He’s not going to come out and call you the N-word,” White told The Dispatch. “But it’s just certain things that he does and you knew why he was doing it because he doesn’t do it with other players.”
“We felt like we couldn’t sneeze without being in trouble with Jason (Trufant),” former MUW women’s basketball player Keyahna Jones added of her predominantly Black team — one of just two on campus at the time.
Speaking with a member of the athletic department staff regarding basketball game day operations in the spring of 2018, Trufant noted he would need an extra staffer in order to take money for tickets at the gate for men’s and women’s basketball games despite no other sporting events on campus requiring payment to attend. He was then reportedly asked as to why basketball would require paid admission.
“He said he wanted to keep, ‘those people,’ the street people, the people who live around The W out of his nice, clean gym, and the only way to keep those people out would be to charge for their games,” a source who witnessed the exchange claimed.
White also alleged Trufant used similar rationalization in a staff meeting later that year regarding basketball ticket sales.
Trufant refuted the claim, saying, “That is 100 percent inaccurate. Absolutely not. That was never said.” He also explained basketball games were subjected to paid admission due to limited capacity and that “when you anticipate larger crowds you have to have a method of controlling larger crowds.”
MUW investigates, leaves Trufant in place
Following allegations of mistreatment toward a coach in August 2019, Trufant was investigated by MUW administration, according to multiple sources and emails obtained by The Dispatch.
White and at least one other head coach were brought in for meetings with Miller to discuss Trufant’s behavior.
In an email obtained by the Dispatch from Aug. 21, 2019, Miller told the athletic department Trufant would be placed on a leave of absence following the inquiry. However, in a separate email sent at 8:13 p.m. on Aug. 26, 2019, obtained by The Dispatch, Miller announced Trufant would return to his post as athletic director.
“I’m aware that some of you may be uncomfortable with this decision, but I ask that you help us to strike a ‘reset’ button,” Miller wrote. “There will be no tolerance of retaliation and that will be a part of our discussion tomorrow. I am thankful for the candor that you shared in your discussions with me, and I hope that you will always feel comfortable in addressing issues with your Athletic Director or with others on campus as appropriate.”
After the internal review did not result in Trufant’s termination, White left MUW to take an assistant coaching job with the men’s basketball program at Edward Waters College in Jacksonville, Florida, in October 2019.
Following White’s departure, 12 of MUW’s 14 women’s basketball players still had college eligibility from the 2019 national title team left the program. Of those dozen, White said 10 left as a direct result of his leaving Columbus. He also contends he lost between seven and eight recruits due to rumblings of Trufant’s alleged behavior.
“Coach White didn’t feel welcome there, that’s how I’d put it,” former MUW women’s basketball graduate assistant Rayshell Harris told The Dispatch of the toxic culture. “Nobody wants to stay … where they don’t feel comfortable or welcome.”
Trufant simply noted those players were not forced out.
“Were those students asked to leave?” he said in reference to the women’s basketball team’s mass exodus. “Absolutely not.”
Multiple sources also told The Dispatch they felt betrayed by Miller for allowing Trufant’s return, and they believed her inaction condoned his alleged behavior.
“When I would walk to work, I would be fine when I would start,” a former MUW employee said. “Every step I got closer to that school, that institution, I was sick to my stomach.”
Miller told The Dispatch there were “some issues” brought up in the investigation, but “there was nothing there.” She also said unequivocally that Trufant is still the person to lead the MUW athletic department.
“We listened to them; we talked about it,” Miller said of the investigation. “I can’t really say any more. I took what I considered to be the appropriate action.”
Ben Portnoy reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @bportnoy15.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
