Chucky Brown filed a lawsuit against Saint Augustine’s University, alleging wrongful termination from his role as the head college basketball coach and seeking backpay. The former NBA champion wants the impoverished HBCU to pay him for the days he worked, as well as the remainder of his contract.
I genuinely don’t know if the university has the money to pay him.
Saint Augustine’s is a private historically Black Christian college in Raleigh, North Carolina. It enrolled only 200 students this year, compared to more than 1,100 last year. Its athletic programs compete on the Division-II level in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
Well, they used to. The CIAA announced the suspension of all sports competition for Saint Augustine’s through the end of the 2024-25 academic year, effective immediately, in early October. The decision was made after the financially embattled institution failed to meet conference compliance requirements in addition to concerns about its ability to meet NCAA sports sponsorship.
This is where Brown comes into the equation.
Saint Augustine’s cut its college basketball program “at some point during 2024.” It cut Chucky Brown’s position “due to a reduction in administrative staff positions” on Dec. 14, 2024. The move was part of a larger last-ditched effort to keep the school from folding.
However, Brown contests that the university fired him without cause for termination. It failed to compensate him fully for the remaining term of his contract. His complaint states that he is owed more than $23,000. That number represents his unpaid salary from the day of his ouster through the scheduled end of his contract in March 2025. He also claims his final paycheck lacked pay for his final three days of employment.
Saint Augustine’s University is facing financial debt and loss of accreditation. It was already being sued by two different companies for more than $18 million. Chucky Brown’s new lawsuit adds to that total.
There is no telling if the school will have the money to pay him (or anyone else) back. This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.