Women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly stood atop the Iowa State logo in the middle of the practice court at the Sukup Basketball Complex on Friday afternoon, about two weeks after news broke that he was being sued by former player Nikki Moody.

In the midst of accusations that he called Moody a “thug” on multiple occasions and racially discriminated her, Fennelly stood in front of a full circle of media, saying he was a “fighter” and he was looking for his day in court. 

He couldn’t get into specifics on the case, but he did not offer any apology. He said that he’s a passionate coach who only cares about bettering his players.

“I’m not going to apologize for being who I am,” Fennelly said. “I’ve done this for 41 years and I can’t change who I am. I am who I am, and I’m not going to apologize for that.”

In his opening statement, Fennelly showed remorse for how the situation has affected the people around him. He expressed the deepest regret when he talked about this wife, Deb, who he called the “best player I’ve ever recruited.” But he also was choked up when talking about his grandchild, Will.

“I feel bad for the people around me who have to suffer through this with me,” Fennelly said while failing to hold back tears. “They didn’t sign up for that. The one kind of weird good thing in this is my [2-year-old] grandchild. He can’t read what some of you are writing about his grandpa. He can’t hear what some of people are saying about me. That gives me some solace.”

Moody filed a lawsuit against Fennelly, Iowa State and the state of Iowa on April 15, a Friday, claiming that Fennelly created a “hostile environment” while she played at Iowa State from 2011-15. The news broke on April 18, the following Monday. 

She claimed that Fennelly called her and teammates racist names during practices and games and verbally harassed her. Former player Cheyenne Shepherd, who played from 1995-97, backed up some of Moody’s statements with a letter to The Des Moines Register.

Fennelly said he was “totally shocked” by the lawsuit, but was endeared by the many positive comments from former and current players, staff members and other coaches.

“It’s been overwhelming, humbling,” Fennelly said. “That’s been a part that has allowed me to move on a little bit, is all the comments from players that I didn’t know would say that to me. But they have and it’s been great.”

Fennelly declined to get into the specifics of the case because the lawsuit is ongoing, but he did say that the decision on whether he and the school go to trial is “out of my hands.” He said he’s going to let the ISU legal counsel guide him. 

“I look forward to the process,” he said. “I have great faith in the legal system. We’ll see how it plays out. I look forward to a time where we get to share our side of the story.”

As for the last two weeks, Fennelly said the lawsuit hasn’t affected recruiting in the short term. He said it has come up in conversations, but “it hasn’t impacted us one bit.”

Fennelly has brought in a number of recruits for the next three classes, four of whom are African-American — Nia Washington, Rae Johnson, Kristin Scott and Aliyah Konate. But Fennelly said the suit hasn’t affected his current commits as well.

“If the negativity is a reason for why a kid doesn’t come here then I don’t want them here,” Fennelly said. “We’ve talked to all of [our current commits], and they’re more committed than ever.”

Fennelly said he’s going to go back to living his life after a whirlwind of a two weeks while university lawyers sort out the legal process, saying he’s going to “focus on Iowa State, like I always have.”

But there is one message that Fennelly wanted to get across Monday afternoon — he has no regrets.

“I’m not that type of guy,” Fennelly said. “I’m not big on what you can’t change. You can’t change the past.”