Wagner coach suspended amid verbal abuse accusations
Wagner head coach Donald Copeland has been suspended and is under investigation for alleged mistreatment of players, according to a Wednesday report from the New York Post.
The allegations against Copeland involve verbally abusing players and denying them water breaks during practice. While no wrongdoing has been confirmed, multiple complaints were filed with the school’s administration, which prompted the investigation.
The Post received the complaints from a few of the players detailing the mistreatment.
Multiple sources specifically mentioned the minimal water breaks. “If you’re thirsty, swallow your spit,” Copeland allegedly said.
Another alleged story outlined a player hiding a Gatorade bottle in the gym, and when it was found, Copeland made the team run and said, “You’re all going to run, until the Gatorade is out of his belly.” Additionally, over the summer, two players reportedly passed out from dehydration and one had to go to the hospital.
“It has been a difficult decision to write this because I feel scared to speak out, but the behavior has caused significant emotional distress for me and other players on the team,” a player wrote. “In practice he uses a bullying tactic in coaching style, saying cruel things about our upbringing or using harsh or foul/inappropriate language with the players that just tear us down mentally. Lastly I would like to address our extreme film session, to which we the players refer to [as] a funeral because we know we are about to be mentally bashed and cussed out the whole session.”
Other claimed abuse includes Copeland calling the players “pu**y.” A player from last year’s team, R.J. Greene, confirmed this.
“I felt like it was disrespectful,” Greene said. “It wasn’t like once in a [while]. Once in a [while] might’ve been tolerable, but it was every single day. Every day was like war, on and off the court. We could never just go to him and talk to him, not as a coach for a second. It was run like a military base.”
Neither Copeland or Wagner Athletics responded to The Post for comment.
In 2024, Copeland guided Wagner to its first NCAA Tournament in 21 years, winning a First Four game vs. Howard. He was named head men’s basketball coach in the spring of 2022. Copeland was an assistant coach at Seton Hall, his alma mater, from 2021-22 before becoming Wagner’s head man. Before playing at Seton Hall, Copeland was coached by legend Bob Hurley Sr. at St. Anthony in Jersey City.
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