As he stood naked outside of his school’s gym, the young football player knew a line had been crossed.
This wasn’t a harmless prank or team-building initiation. This was abuse.
“We first-year players were locked out with no clothes on. That was a ritual back then,” said University of Hawaii athletic director Craig Angelos, referring to the mid-1970s, when he was in high school. “When I became a junior and had some say I said, ‘We are done with that.’
“At what point do you stop the cycle?”
For Angelos, it was a year before being named the top high school football player in Utah. While he established himself as a team leader and star running back, he convinced his teammates that abusing their younger teammates was wrong — and the fact that it had been done to them didn’t make it right.
Angelos shared his personal experience with hazing as news continued to break last week about what has grown into a multi-sport scandal at Northwestern. Allegations of student-athlete mistreatment have led to the dismissal of NU football coach Pat Fitzgerald and baseball coach Jim Foster this month, and lawsuits filed by numerous former student-athletes.
On Monday, it was disclosed that an unnamed Northwestern women’s volleyball player was among those suing the school, claiming she was injured during punishment drills in 2021, and ostracized by the team at the coach’s direction.
UH opens its volleyball season against NU on Aug. 25 in the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic. It happens to be the first interscholastic sports event on campus with Angelos as UH’s athletic director. He was hired in May.
Angelos said he follows the Northwestern story closely, and has had ongoing discussions with UH coaches and other staff regarding what constitutes hazing and other forms of abuse of student-athletes.
“I like to spotlight these things as they happen (elsewhere) in real time,” Angelos said. “It’s a reminder of what can happen, what can take down coaches and programs.”
He said he will also talk to UH’s approximately 500 student-athletes on a regular basis.
“I will address every team at the beginning of the year. I meet with them three times a year, each team individually,” said Angelos, who was athletic director at Florida Atlantic from 2002 to 2012, and second-in-command at six other Division I programs. “I definitely address these issues and remind everyone about representing their team, the state and themselves in an honorable way.”
After the 2021 UH football season, some Warriors players accused head coach Todd Graham of mistreatment that led to a major decline in team morale. A state Senate hearing followed, and shortly thereafter, Graham’s resignation.
Many of the complaints were that Graham did not treat players fairly, and there were allegations of racial stereotyping.
But there were no claims of players sexually abusing teammates — and with the coach condoning it, like there are against Fitzgerald at Northwestern.
“It was a bad situation that year at UH with a lot of players unhappy for valid reasons,” said Leonard Lee, a UH player in 2021 who was one of the few to attach his name to his complaints. “But there was nothing of a sexual nature, like we’re hearing about at Northwestern.”
Angelos holds a law degree, and worked for the NCAA as a legislative assistant before starting his college sports administration career in 1994.
“In my first (athletic department) job at Miami there was a lot of issues and hazing did raise its head,” he said. “Maybe in the past some things were considered pranks, done in fun. But times have changed. There are choices, and there are consequences.”
The coaches, staff and student-athlete leaders all have responsibility in preventing hazing, Angelos said.
“They used to call it a matter of coaching style. But if coaches got caught saying some of the things now that they said then, they’d be fired,” he said. “I think everyone is vigilant and well meaning. Also, every team has a leadership council (of student-athletes). Coaches and staff can’t be monitoring everyone 24/7. You have to rely on the senior leadership, too.”
