Missouri softball players launch protest against athletic director

Missouri's softball team has launched a protest against athletics director Mack Rhoades and the athletic administration, according to the Columbia Daily Tribune.

Players released a statement before playing a game Saturday, under protest, at home against South Carolina.

“The Missouri athletic department is conducting a wholly unsubstantiated investigation of our softball program and the softball coaching staff,” the statement reads. “The softball players support and love our coaching staff, and we wonder why this black cloud is being put over our program intentionally by Mizzou AD Mack Rhoades.”

This protest comes six months after the football team threatened not to play a game because of racial strife on campus. The football team acted in solidarity with Concerned Student 1950's push to have then-UM System President Tim Wolfe ousted.

Wolfe resigned, along with Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, and the boycott ended.

When asked last week by The Tribune whether he might not return next season, coach Ehren Earleywine said, “I can neither confirm nor deny it,” and deferred other questions to Missouri's administration.

Earleywine has coached at Missouri for 10 years and has two seasons left on his contract. He signed a seven-year extension in 2011 and makes $155,000 a year.

Rhoades also has not spoken publicly about the investigation.

“The administration is conducting an unjust investigation” the statement continued, “which includes: bullying and intimidating players during forced interviews; AD Mack Rhoades told us that we, the players, don’t have ANY say in who is the coach of our team; we believe a gag order has been placed on our coaches; the administration was completely incompetent in handling the fall football scandal and they are doing a worse job at this; this is a title IX sport and they’re making up a false investigation.”

No. 14 Mizzou (38-12, 13-9 SEC) had won nine in a row entering Saturday.