A weeks-long controversy tied to a basketball game between Tuskegee University and Morehouse College is now headed to court. Head coach Benjy Taylor is preparing to file a lawsuit against Morehouse and two campus police officers following the viral incident in which he was handcuffed on the court.
According to USA Today, Taylor’s legal team confirmed that the civil case will be formally announced on March 20 in College Park, Georgia. The coach, who was not charged with any crime, is being represented by a group of high-profile civil rights attorneys, including Harry Daniels and John Burris.
In a release, his attorneys said the incident “sparked national attention and outcry,” and identified officers R. Clark and M. Roberson as defendants alongside the school.
The legal move comes after weeks of scrutiny surrounding the January 31 game at Forbes Arena, where both programs compete in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Taylor, a veteran coach with more than three decades in college basketball, had just completed his seventh season leading Tuskegee.
The university has publicly backed him, with president Mark A. Brown stating that Taylor has the school’s “full, unequivocal, and unwavering support.”
In the immediate aftermath, Taylor described the moment as both personal and public. “I am at a loss for words, and I am upset about how I was violated and treated today,” he said. “For my players, my family, and people of Tuskegee to witness that is heartbreaking for me.”
He added that he was attempting to address what he believed was a safety issue involving additional players entering the handshake line.
That sequence unfolded as players from both teams gathered postgame, when Taylor approached a security officer about removing individuals he said were not supposed to be part of the line.
Instead, the video shows the interaction escalating before he was placed in handcuffs and escorted off the floor. He was released shortly after and left with the team.
The fallout extended beyond the moment itself. The SIAC later fined Morehouse, concluding that the host institution failed to meet required security standards, particularly regarding crowd control and safe team exits.
