UVa stands by lacrosse coach

The University of Virginia has concluded that lacrosse coach Dom Starsia was not aware of the gravity of a February 2009 incident in which lacrosse player George Huguely punched a sleeping teammate whom he had heard kissed Yeardley Love.

Huguely, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Love, a member of the women’s lacrosse team and Huguely’s ex-girlfriend.

Starsia has been widely criticized for his handling of the earlier incident after reports suggested he learned of the attack and did not suspend Huguely from a game against Mount St. Mary’s three days later or from a match against then-No. 1 ranked Syracuse University the following weekend.

“The university has learned that on the Monday following the Saturday night attack by Mr. Huguely on his teammate, both players went together to meet with Coach Starsia and informed him that they had gotten into a ‘scuffle,’” UVa said in a statement Friday afternoon. “They said that they wanted him to be aware of it, but that they had worked things out and everything was OK between them.”

Starsia asked Huguely and the other student — who has since graduated — if they wanted to discuss the incident further, but both declined. “They told him that they shared the blame for what had happened and had apologized to one another,” UVa’s statement said.

Starsia dismissed Huguely and asked the victim, who had a bruised eye, to stay behind.

“At that time he asked the student if there was something more he wanted to discuss regarding the incident,” the statement said. “The student declined to go into any detail, again saying that the two had resolved their differences.”

UVa has interviewed the victim of the 2009 incident and his account matches the description of events provided by Starsia, UVa’s statement said.

UVa spokeswoman Carol Wood said neither player disclosed to Starsia the underlying facts of the incident and that they assured him the matter had been resolved amicably.

“As far as Dom knew, these two guys came in arm-in-arm and told him they’d gotten into a scuffle, both were to blame and everything’s OK now,” she said. “[Starsia] even pushed them, but they said, ‘No, we’re good. It’s all taken care of. We’re buddies.’”

Starsia told UVa that he does not recall talking to the team about the specifics of the incident, as the Washington Post has reported, Wood said. Starsia, she said, told UVa that he recalls discussing at a practice fighting among teammates in a general sense and stressed the importance of respecting each other.

“He said he told them things like, ‘We’re all family here,’” Wood said.

Wood added that Starsia did not violate any policy by not reporting the incident to Athletics Director Craig Littlepage or anyone else in the athletics department.

“Given the facts [Huguely and the other student] gave him, it did not rise to the level of seriousness that it would have gone to [the office of] student affairs or up the chain in athletics,” she said.

Had Starsia know the actual facts of the incident, Wood said, it would have “triggered a completely different reaction.”

Huguely’s assault on a sleeping teammate was first reported by the Washington Post, which quoted three unnamed former UVa lacrosse players. UVa has asked the Post for a correction, saying the article, which The Daily Progress ran on May 8, made it sound as though Starsia knew how serious the 2009 incident was, but still allowed Huguely to play in that week’s games. The Post, UVa said late Friday, is standing by its story.

UVa President John T. Casteen III expressed confidence in Starsia at a news conference in Richmond on Tuesday after he was pointedly asked if he stands by the coach in light of reports that he knew about Huguely’s attack on a sleeping teammate but did not tell school officials.

Casteen said those reports were “hearsay” and that he supports Starsia “to the extent that I have any information.”

Starsia has not responded to requests for comment on the case from The Progress since Love was found dead May 3.

The UVa men’s lacrosse team will play its first game since Love’s death tonight in the first round of the NCAA tournament. UVa, ranked No. 1, will face Mount St. Mary’s at 7:30 p.m. at Klockner Stadium.