Spoiler alert.
The announcement of the national coach of the year in Division I-II men’s volleyball has been postponed by the American Volleyball Coaches Association Awards Committee.
On Friday, the AVCA released a statement that read, in part, the governing body has delayed Tuesday’s announcement of the coaching awards “pending the conclusion of an investigation by the U.S. Center for SafeSport and (it) will be made when the investigation is complete.”
The only pending investigation concerns Hawaii coach Charlie Wade and allegations of possible misconduct involving a female athlete that happened some 30 years ago in California when he was coaching club volleyball. In a statement released by the University of Hawaii on Thursday, Wade strongly denied that any type of misconduct took place.
The investigation dates back to September 2018, when Wade said he was first notified of the allegation and that he cooperated with SafeSport, a nonprofit organization that is authorized to independently resolve allegations of abuse within U.S. Olympic sports, which includes volleyball. Wade said through his attorney Michael Green that he has neither been interviewed by nor heard from SafeSport since.
USA Volleyball was the governing body that initially received the complaint and then referred the matter to SafeSport. The USAV website lists Wade as being placed on interim suspension on Sept. 8, 2018, with resolution pending.
The Star-Advertiser
contacted USA Volleyball for comment on Thursday and received an email
on Friday that read: “USA Volleyball’s top priority is providing an environment that is safe for all participants. As such, USA Volleyball immediately reports any allegations of sexual misconduct to the U.S.
Center for SafeSport. This process applies to the allegations against Mr. Wade or any other individual.”
No response has been received from SafeSport as to how long the investigation might take.
Meanwhile, top-ranked Hawaii (27-2) returned to practice on Friday to prepare for next week’s NCAA tournament at Long Beach State. Practice was closed to the media, with Wade, staff and players unavailable for interviews.
The top-seeded Rainbow Warriors, who leave Monday, have a bye into Thursday’s first semifinal (2 p.m.). They will face the winner of Tuesday’s first-round match between USC (18-10) and Lewis (25-5).
On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Long Beach State (26-2) will meet the winner of Tuesday’s second first-round match between Pepperdine (22-6) and Princeton (18-12).
The national championship is May 4.
