Penn State Basketball Player vs. Head Coach Defamation Lawsuit Can Go Forward (but Not as to the Disrespectful “Bro”)

Clary v. Pennsylvania State Univ., decided Dec. 2 by Chief Judge Matthew Brann (M.D. Pa.), involves a claim that the Penn State basketball head coach Michael Rhoades defamed Kanye Clary, the team’s student captain. The court concluded that two statements were sufficiently alleged to be actionable:

Paragraph 41 alleges that Rhoades, in January and February 2024, “spread rumors to staff, media and surrounding people that [Clary’s] father, Anthony Clary, was after more money which is the reason why [Clary] did not return.” … [A]lthough the statement only references Clary’s father, it also states that Clary refused to return to Penn State due to the desire—whether his or his father’s—for more money. This can reasonably be inferred as a defamatory statement about Clary—that Clary himself was greedy and only interested in money and, as a result, abandoned [his] team and refused to play for Penn State…. [And] it may be reasonably inferred that this statement damaged Clary; the statement created a stigma related to Clary that forced him to play at a less prestigious university and directly led to financial losses and the “derailment” of his basketball career….

So too does Paragraph 56 adequately state a claim. It alleges that in March 2024, after Clary had been dismissed from the Penn State men’s basketball team, Rhoades “spread unfounded rumors [to media outlets] that [Clary] decided himself that he was going to leave Penn State.” Again, while the amended complaint is not specific as to who in the media received the defamatory statement, there is good reason to believe that such information will be revealed in discovery. And while Paragraph 56 seems to imply that any financial damage to Clary resulted from his dismissal from the basketball team, it is reasonable to infer from this paragraph that Rhoades’ statements caused financial harm to Clary by harming his reputation and forcing him to attend a less prestigious university.

But other claims were held to have been too vague or otherwise lacking; one example:

Paragraph 52 … alleged that Rhoades stated Clary “used the word ‘bro’ in a disrespectful fashion,” but … fails to identify the target or targets of that statement….

Clary is now playing for Oklahoma State.