Former Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy berated players, assistants at Colorado State

Students+wait+in+line+outside+Hilton+Coliseum+prior+to+the+start+of+the+Cyclones+game+against+No.+2+Kansas+Jan.+16.%C2%A0

Emily Blobaum/Iowa State Daily

Students wait in line outside Hilton Coliseum prior to the start of the Cyclones’ game against No. 2 Kansas Jan. 16. 

Luke Manderfeld

Colorado State Basketball Coach Larry Eustachy, who coached at Iowa State from 1998-2003, was investigated by the university in 2013-14 for emotionally abusing his players by using fear and intimidation.

Eustachy went on profanity-laden tirades against assistant coaches, players and referees, according to records obtained by the Coloradoan.

In the investigation, Eustachy admitted to calling players “f***ing p**sies” and “f***ing c**ts,” punching whiteboards and throwing unopened soda cans at walls during multiple outbursts during his short tenure at Colorado State at the time. He was hired in 2012.

At the end of a letter addressed to Eustachy, former Colorado Athletic Director Jack Graham said Eustachy could not repeat the bad behavior or the university would “terminate its contract with you for just cause.”

“I am deeply disappointed on a very personal level that someone chose to publicize confidential information from my personal file,” Eustachy said in a statement to the Coloradoan. “That said, I fully recognize that I’m not perfect. I have my faults and strive every day to be better than I was yesterday.”

The investigation, which spanned 99 days in the 2013-14 season, interviewed 14 players and basketball and athletic department staff members, according to the Coloradoan. Graham, former Deputy Athletic Director John Morris and current Executive Associate Senior Athletic Director Steve Cottingham conducted the investigation with the consent of Colorado State University president Tony Frank, the Coloradoan reported.

“I believed Eustachy should be terminated and believed we had the basis to terminate for cause,” Graham told the Coloradoan. “I was advised by Tony Frank that we did not have the basis to terminate for cause and that Eustachy was to be placed on a personal improvement plan.”

During the 2013-14 season — when the investigation took place — Colorado State went 16-16. Last season, the Rams finished with a 18-16 record under Eustachy and failed to make a postseason tournament.

Eustachy resigned at Iowa State in 2003 — five years after he was hired — after photos surfaced in the Des Moines Register showing him partying and kissing college-aged women at a party near the University of Missouri campus following a game on Jan. 22.

In a press conference shortly after, Eustachy said he had begun rehab treatment for alcoholism. Iowa State’s athletic director at the time, Bruce Van De Velde, suspended Eustachy and recommended he be fired. Eustachy initially said he would fight the suspension, but eventually resigned in May 2003.

The Register also reported that season Eustachy gave illegal payments to players for making free throws.

Eustachy took over the Iowa State program from Tim Floyd, who resigned in 1998 after becoming the head coach of the Chicago Bulls. Eustachy headed one of the most successful Iowa State teams in program history in 1999-2000, winning 32 games and making a run to the Elite Eight.