Assault charge against UAlbany men's basketball coach Dwayne Killings resolved

Coach gestures at practice — PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

FILE - UAlbany men’s basketball head coach Dwayne Killings

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UALBANY – The assault charge against UAlbany men’s basketball head coach Dwayne Killings in the state of Kentucky will be dismissed a year from now, pending his completion of a class in “corrective thinking.”

The ruling was made during a status hearing on Monday, after which Killings issued a statement through his public relations representative, Steven Greenberg.

“Upon recommendation of the county attorney, the Court today approved a resolution of the case in Kentucky, which will be dismissed in one year, upon my completion of an online class in ‘corrective thinking,’” the statement read.

“The interests of our team, players, families, program, and community always come first for me. That will never change. I look forward to continuing to build a program that the entire UAlbany community and Capital Region can be proud of, today and long into the future.”

Killings was charged with 4th degree assault with no visible injury, a Class A misdemeanor, on Jan. 23 that stemmed from a locker room incident in November of 2021.

That led to Killings serving a five-game suspension early in the 2022-23 season.

Killings pleaded not guilty to the assault charge during a virtual arraignment in Madison County (Ky.) District Court.

The player involved in the incident, Luke Fizulich, had also filed a lawsuit in federal court in the Northern District of New York in November against Killings, UAlbany athletic director Mark Benson and the university.

The charge in Kentucky was filed in response to an incident prior to a Nov. 24, 2021 game against Eastern Illinois in Richmond, Kentucky. UAlbany officials received a complaint about the incident on Feb. 27 of last year, and launched an investigation that resulted in substantiation of “inappropriate physical contact between Coach Killings and a student-athlete” in a pre-game hype circle.

As a result of the investigation, Killings was ordered to serve a five-game suspension during the 2022-23 season and pay a $25,000 fine in the form of donations to local not-for-profit organizations.

Fizulich, a walk-on player, transferred to UAlbany from Marquette ahead of the 2021-22 season when Killings — previously a Marquette assistant — was hired at UAlbany to replace Will Brown as head coach after Brown was dismissed following a two-decade tenure that included five NCAA tournament appearances.

After the complaint against Killings with the university was filed on Feb. 27, Fizulich was not with the program for its final two games of the season and entered into the NCAA transfer portal after the season ended.

Contact Mike MacAdam at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @Mike_MacAdam.